Changes in municipal and regional electoral law

Draft legislation was submitted to Parliament Tuesday that does away with the system of simple proportional representation in the election of municipal and regional authorities. According to the draft law tabled by the Interior Ministry, mayors or governors can be elected in the first round by securing 43% plus one vote. 

In order for a party to be able to elect a municipal or regional councilor, it must garner more than 3% in the local elections, regardless of the number of members of the municipal council per municipality or region. Moreover, the mayors or regional governors who win the elections scheduled to take place on October 8, 2023 will have a full five-year term starting on January 1, 2024.

Interior Minister Makis Voridis stressed “the bill rectifies the distorted conditions caused by the law of simple proportional representation introduced by SYRIZA, which led the majority of municipal authorities to anarchy.”