No Vote: Greeks Abroad Left Out in the Cold Again

 It’s not easy voting in Greek elections, even if you live here. But it’s impossible for Greeks living abroad who have no rights to vote at all unless they travel back to their homeland, a cost-prohibitive journey for many. Greece does not allow absentee ballots, which means more than a million Greeks living abroad will not be able to cast a vote in the May 6 general elections to elect a new leader and Parliament, either by mail or electronically. Even Greeks living in the country find voting difficult, as unless they have changed their place of registration to where they live, are required to go back to their hometowns or villages.

It’s been more than 11 years since the then-ruling PASOK Socialists promised to change that and find a way for Greeks living in the Diaspora to vote, and five years since the then-ruling New Democracy Conservatives also vowed to deliver the right to Greeks living abroad. Both pronouncements came with great fanfare and then, as is typical in Greece, were forgotten and ignored, leaving Greeks living outside the country without a basic right guaranteed in most countries. Americans living in Greece s who want to vote by absentee ballot must complete a new Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) every year, according to the U.S. Embassy in Athens. States are required to send out ballots 45 days before an election. No matter what state you vote in, you can now ask your local election officials to provide your blank ballots to you electronically (by email, internet download, or fax, depending on your state.)

Greeks abroad don’t have that right, or any voting rights and are effectively disenfranchised. Americans living in Greece and holding a dual citizenship have the right to vote, and this year will have the arduous choice of picking from among 32 parties, including a slew of groups opposed to the austerity measures demanded by international lenders in return for $325 billion in two bailouts, conditions supported by New Democracy and PASOK, who have seen their popularity plummet.

A few months ago, Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas, one of the New Democracy ministers serving in a shaky hybrid government with PASOK ministers before a new government is elected, also stressed that his party would deliver the right to vote, a pledge made by countless other members of his party and PASOK that were then shelved.

Greece, as is its wont, generally ignores even European Union rulings it doesn’t like and there’s no follow-up to make sure decisions are complied with. For example, the EU’s anti-billboard law is ignored – including by Greek ministries who use them to promote their own messages in violation of the law. And that’s what Greece has done since a European Court of Human Rights ruling on July 9, 2010, which found that Greece has failed to legally ensure the voting rights of Greeks living abroad from their place of residence through legislative implementation. The case was brought before the court by Nikolaos Sitaropoulos and Christos Giakoumopoulos. The two men, who are both court officials living in Strasbourg, France, claimed they were not able to exercise their right to vote in the September 2007 Greek general elections from their place of residence. Greece ignored the finding.

Late last year, Olga Sarantopoulos, Secretary of the World Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE) pointed out that Greece is taxing its overseas residents but not allowing them to vote, and the group asked for them to be exempted from paying taxes, a request that came in the wake of a doubling of income and property taxes as Greece was desperate to raise revenues to stop the bleeding of its failing economy. She said that Greeks abroad are the country’s biggest international assets: “They have repeatedly voiced their wish to help their home country exit this terrible financial crisis in any possible way,” she said in her letter.

At that time, SAE President Stefanos Tamvakis met with Members of Parliament in Athens to discuss the future of the council and again asked for Greeks abroad to be given absentee ballots but his request was ignored too. This was even as Greece was planning to create Diaspora Bonds to try to raise $3 billion, a plan that was scrapped, although those who did buy Greek bonds were forced to take 74 percent losses by then Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, PASOK’s new leader and its candidate for Prime Minister. He also imposed a wave of new taxes but said if he’s elected he will not assess new taxes on beleaguered Greeks.

Three years ago, PASOK MP Elpida Tsouri, who was just elected President of the Committee on Diaspora Hellenism, previously the Committee on Greeks Abroad, told the Athens News that she was committed to reaching out to Greeks residing abroad and working hard to find solutions to many of the bureaucratic problems they face when trying to get their Greek citizenship recognized, or when it comes time for their sons to serve in the Greek army. But she said then her biggest priority was for PASOK to grant citizens living abroad a vote-by-mail system instead of being physically present in the country.

“The government will address the issue with due responsibility and seriousness. It will steer clear of petty politics, which is a blow to the unity and dignity of all Greeks,” she said. She added that it would happen “soon.” That was three years ago, and Greeks abroad are still waiting as another election is about to come and go.