The government, clearly shaken by the resounding defeats it suffered in the second round of the 2023 local elections, is moving forward with institutional maneuvering on an unprecedented scale. As journalist Stergios Ziampakas reveals in today’s report in EFSYN, the government is using the New Local Government Code—which was released yesterday for public consultation (through June 4), the Ministry of the Interior is attempting to change the rules of the game, effectively abolishing the second round of elections and introducing a system that blatantly distorts representation in local communities.

The goal? To prevent the progressive alliances that led to the defeat of the «blue» candidates in key municipalities (Athens, Thessaloniki) and regions (Thessaly) in 2023. Fear of the ballot box is now translating into an electoral strategy that favors the tight control of municipalities by minority factions.

How the Sunday Election «Machine» Is Set Up

The mammoth bill, comprising 761 articles, which will take effect starting with the November 2028 elections, is turning the architecture of local government upside down, raising the bar for democratic legitimacy. According to a report by Stergios Ziampakas:

Single-round election with 42%+1: The threshold for the first round of voting is dropping even further (from the already problematic 43%). If no one meets that threshold, there won’t be a runoff election.
The Pitfall of the «Alternative Vote»: Voters will also «mark» a second, alternative combination on the same ballot. In the second round of counting, the top two candidates advance, and the winner is the one who receives the highest total of primary and alternative votes.
Absolute dominance of minorities: Whichever combination comes out on top in this arithmetic sum automatically receives the 60% (3/5) of the seats at the board meeting, maintaining the entry threshold at 3%.

This maneuver opens Pandora’s box to extreme behind-the-scenes horse-trading before the polls have even opened. As EFSYN points out, leaders on the progressive side emphasize that the nightmare scenario is now a distinct possibility: a coalition with less than 20% of the vote in the first count, only to end up governing with 60% seats. This amounts to a complete instrumentalization of the system that will create municipal authorities that are dependent, weak, and manipulated by the central government.

The reactions are already extremely intense, in contrast to the convenient silence of the mayors aligned with New Democracy. The report recalls the harsh words that have been heard in collective bodies: the mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, had described the system as a mechanism that «systematizes customer management». Even more outspoken, Aegaleo City Councilman Dimitris Birbas sounded the alarm about organized corruption: «Does anyone believe that marginalized groups, shady networks, and vested interests won't make this “second choice” in advance?».

In response to criticism that the new law is consolidating conservative forces, the narrative put forward by Interior Minister Theodoros Livaniou’s narrative about «saving resources» and avoiding a second-round runoff on the following Sunday seems more like a pretext to justify the elimination of the second round — the only process that historically allowed for programmatic collaborations to take place in the open.

Electronic Voting for Non-Residents

As reported in Stergios Ziampakas’s article, the same bill also promotes electronic voting. However, the government has abandoned the initial, highly unreliable plan to allow voting via cell phone. Voters residing outside their municipality of registration will be able to vote digitally for their municipality, but only at a polling station in their place of residence, after verifying their identity in person.

The bill is expected to come under close scrutiny at the upcoming crucial meeting of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) on Monday, May 25. Local government stands at a historic crossroads: either it will defend its public and representative character, or it will allow itself to be transformed into a completely controlled appendage of the executive branch.