At stake in this election:

• 288 seats in the Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Konstandinos (Kostis) STEPHANOPOULOS
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Konstandinos SIMITIS
• Assembly: Greece has a unicameral Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon) with 300 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
• In the Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon) 288 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There is a national threshold of 3 percent. The party or apparentement winning a plurality of votes automatically is awarded 40 seats, and the remaining seats are allocated proportionally among all parties clearing the threshold. The 288 regular seats are divided among 56 constituencies: 48 multi-member and 8 single-member. In single-member districts, elections are effectively by plurality. The 12 State Deputy seats are allocated proportionally from closed lists in a nationwide district. Voters cast ballots only for the regular seats.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK)
  • Leader: Costas SIMITIS
  • Seats won in this election: 158
  • Seats won in last election: 162
• Party: New Democracy (ND)
  • Leader: Costas KARAMANLIS
  • Seats won in this election: 125
  • Seats won in last election: 108
• Party: The Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
  • Leader: Aleka PAPARIGA
  • Seats won in this election: 11
  • Seats won in last election: 11
• Party: The Coalition of the Left and Progress (SYN)
  • Leader: Nikos KONSTANDOPOULOS
  • Seats won in this election: 6
  • Seats won in last election: 10
• Party: The Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI)
  • Leader: Dimitris TSOVOLAS
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 9
• Party: Other Parties
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections last held: September 22, 1996.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,987,314 (2000)
• Registered Voters: 9,373,439 (2000)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,464,346 (2000)

·         Is Greece a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (2 March 1982)

·         Has Greece ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 June 1983)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 26 (following the 2000 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 29 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Greece a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Greece ratified CRPD: Yes (31 May 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 1,648,097 (est.)