Tomorrow, Sunday 8^th October, the citizens of Greece will vote in the local authority elections, which since 2014 are held on a 5-year cycle, matching the elections to the European Parliament. The elections consist of two ballots – the Regional and the Municipal – and citizens are voting not only for individual candidates for Regional Governor and mayor, but also for the members of the corresponding Regional and municipal councils.

A subsidiary level is that of councillors for the individual municipal and local communities which make up each municipality. For example, Kolymbari is a municipal community of the Municipality of Platanias and its council consists of representatives of each of the local communities or villages, such as Afrata, Rodopou, Ravdoucha and Spilia.

Each candidate for mayor and Regional Governor is supported by a “front” consisting of those who have pledged to work with them if elected councillor, the front bearing a name which is usually a slogan expressing its aspirations. Thus the name of the front of the incumbent Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis, who is standing for reelection for a fourth consecutive term, is “Gia tin Kriti mas” – “For our Crete”. That of the mayor of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis, who is standing for a second consecutive term, is simply “#giataChania” – “for Chania”. The mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis is standing under the banner “Autodioikitiki Synergasia Politon” – “Local government Citizens’ Cooperation”. Like the Regional Governor he is standing for a fourth term, having been first elected in 2010, when the Municipality of Platanias was first created in the Kallikratis reorganisation of local government.

The result is a total of 151,766 candidates standing nationwide, or nearly 2 per cent of the resident Greek population, of which 7,395 are candidates for regional councillor, 63,906 candidates for municipal councillor, and 84,465 for councillor of a municipal community. The candidates are split between 59.07% men and 40.93% women, while the oldest candidate, standing for municipal councillor for Piraeus, is 102.

A total of 1,222 municipal fronts are participating in Sunday’s elections, while 1,211 candidates are contesting the 332 mayoral seats, of which only 164, or 13.5% are women. This year, unusually, the post of Mayor of Chania is being contested by a woman, SYRIZA supporter Katerina Manimanaki, who is an orthopaedic surgeon at Chania General hospital and is standing under the banner “Oneiro einai ta Chania” – “Chania is a dream”.

The country’s 13 Regions are being contested by 78 regional fronts, with 67 men and 11 women standing for the post of Regional Governor. Finally, the number of Greek electors registered with the municipalities is 9,775,181, of which 4,743,059 are men and 5,032,122 are women.

In addition to the Greek electors, 17,957 citizens of the 26 other EU member states who are resident in Greece are registered on the municipal electoral lists. Of these, 4,578 (25.49%) are from Bulgaria, 2,824 (15.73%) from Romania, 2,713 (15.11%) from Germany and 1,662 (9.26%) from Cyprus. The electoral regions with the biggest numbers of EU electors are the Dodecanese, Eastern Attica, Chania and the Cyclades.

The result, as may be imagined, is a fever of pre-election activity, with candidates touring their regions canvassing votes, giving media interviews, and in many cases taking out ads in the local media and press advertising their allegiance to their particular regional or municipal front. The only candidates not thus engaged are the mayors of six municipalities where they are the sole candidate and thus assured of election.

The main political parties are also involved, with each engaged in canvassing activity to try and ensure the election of the candidates they support. The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has expressed his ambition to have candidates oriented towards Nea Dimokratia elected in as many Regions and Municipalities as possible, to facilitate the smooth implementation of the programmes he has announced.

While most fronts are party-oriented, others may be supported by, and draw members from different parties. The Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis began his political career as a Euro MP for PASOK, later becoming a deputy minister in the government of Giorgos Papandreou. However he now stands as an independent and is supported by both PASOK-Movement for Change and Nea Dimokratia.

The polls will be open tomorrow from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm. For the Regions and municipalities where no front achieves a majority of 43% plus one vote, the process will be repeated on Sunday 15th October. The bar for election to a regional or municipal council is 3 per cent of the valid votes cast. In addition to the six municipalities where there is only one mayoral candidate, a further 54 will be decided on the first Sunday as only two candidates are standing.

Voters can choose multiple candidates in order of preference. For municipalities with up to 30,000 inhabitants, up to 3 crosses are allowed on the ballot paper, and for those with over 30,000 inhabitants, up to 4 crosses. For the regional ballot, from 1 to 4 choices are allowed in order of preference.

Once the votes are counted they will be transmitted to the Interior ministry via secure tablets provided for the purpose. It is estimated that the first clear results, for the 13 Regions and for the 6 largest municipalities, will be available at 10.30 pm. For the first time, members of the returning committees are being paid: €40 for the first Sunday, and €30 for the second Sunday if required.
(Haniotika Nea/APE-MPE, parapolitika.gr)