Government Tables Bill To Expand Postal Voting for Diaspora

The Greek government tabled a draft law in Parliament to expand postal voting for Greek citizens living abroad and to create a dedicated Diaspora electoral constituency with three seats.

Interior Minister Thodoris Livanios submitted the bill, titled: “Designation of an Electoral Constituency of the Greek Diaspora – Facilitation of voting rights for electors outside the territory through postal voting for parliamentary elections.”

The bill extended the use of postal voting to parliamentary elections, after Greece applied the system in the 9 June 2024 European elections.

The draft law also established a separate Diaspora constituency with three parliamentary seats, allowing Greek voters abroad to elect the MPs who would represent them in the national Parliament.

Under Article 51(4) of the Constitution, Greece required a two-thirds majority in Parliament to apply postal voting for voters outside Greece in the 2027 national elections. If Parliament failed to secure that majority, the current framework would remain in place, requiring in-person voting at polling stations abroad.

The same constitutional requirement applied to the Diaspora constituency. If Parliament did not reach the required two-thirds majority, the provision would not take effect in 2027 but would instead apply to the following national elections, under Article 54(1).

Authorities said the government held dialogue with political parties and conducted three meetings of an informal cross-party committee before submitting the bill.

The first joint session of the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice and the Special Standing Committee on the Greek Diaspora was scheduled for Thursday, 19 February 2026 at 1pm. Parliament expected to debate the bill in the plenary during the first week of March.

According to the announcement, the successful implementation of postal voting in the 2024 European elections showed Greece could help voters abroad cast ballots from their place of residence, strengthening ties with the homeland.

The bill stated that overall seat distribution would continue to be calculated based on total votes each party received across all constituencies, including the Diaspora constituency. It added that the allocation of the three Diaspora seats would follow the same method used in other three-seat constituencies such as Argolida, Laconia, Arcadia, and Boeotia.

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