At stake in this election:       

• The 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon).

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Karolos PAPOULIAS (since 12 March 2005)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Alexis TSIPRAS (since 25 January 2015)
• Assembly: Greece has a unicameral Hellenic 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 parties in the electoral race:

• Party: New Democracy (ND) / Νέα Δημοκρατία, Néa Dimokratía (ΝΔ)
  Leader: Antonis SAMARAS
  Seats won in last election: 76
• Party: Syriza Unionist Social Front (SYRIZA) / Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás (ΣΥΡΙΖΑ , SYRIZA)
  Leader: Alexis TSIPRAS
  Seats won in last election: 149
• Party: Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) / Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα (ΠΑΣΟΚ)
  Leader: Evangelos VENIZELOS
  Seats won in last election: 13
• Party: Communist Party of Greece / Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas (KKE)
  Leader: Dimitris KOUTSOUMPAS
  Seats won in last election: 15
• Party: The River /  Ποτάμι
  Leader: Stavros THEODORAKIS
  Seats won in last election: 17
• Party: Golden Dawn / Χρυσή Αυγή, Chrysi Avg (XA)
  Leader: Nikolaos MICHALOLIAKOS / Ilias KASIDIARIS
  Seats won in last election: 17
• Party: Independent Greeks / Ανεξάρτητοι Έλληνες, Anexartitoi Ellines (ANEL)
  Leader: Panos KAMMENOS
  Seats won in last election: 13

Last election:

• The last election for parliament in Greece was held on 25 January 2015. Results can be found here: http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/2836/

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,775,557 (July 2014 est) [i]
• Registered Voters: 9,911,495[ii]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 5,509,973 (July 2014 est)[iii]
• Is Greece a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (2 March 1982).[iv]
• Has Greece ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 June 1983)[v]
• Gender Quota:  Yes. Legislated Candidate Quota: “one-third of political parties’ candidate lists, both for national and constituency lists, must be filled with candidates of each sex.”[vi]
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 63 (21%) of 300 seats in Greece’s Hellenic Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon).[xi]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 29.[vii]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: None (latest categorizations are from 2014)[viii]

[i] http://www.indexmundi.com/greece/population.html

[ii] http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/2836/#_edn6 

[iii] http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?id=89

[iv] http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/GRC.pdf

[v] http://genderindex.org/country/greece

[vi] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[vii] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en