General Information
At stake in this election:
- The office of President of Greece
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President Karolos PAPOULIAS
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Konstandinos (Kostas) KARAMANLIS
- Assembly: Greece has a unicameral Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon) with 300 seats.
Description of electoral system:
- The President is indirectly 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 and 12 members are elected through a closed-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 Candidates in the Presidential race:
- Karolos PAPOULIAS*
Population and Registered Voters:
- Population: 11,121,341 (2010)
- Registered voters: 300 members of parliament
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 5,665,270 (2010)
· 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: 52 (following the 2009 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: 1,668,201 (est.)