Ballot boxes opened at 7 o’clock in the morning in more than 20,000 voting centres across the country. More than 9.9 million registered voters are called to elect the next government of the debt-ridden country. 32 parties are competing but polls suggested that 7 to 10 would enter the Greek parliament.
As usual, seniors were the first to stand line in front of the voting booths.
Political leaders casted their votes followed by journalists and camera crews.
The voting started with some minor problems here and there:
-In some voting centres judicial representatives took their duties with delays or did not appear at all.
-In a voting centre of Magnisia, Central Greece, the ballots papers of Achaia prefecture were mistakenly sent. The problem was quickly solved.
-Two voting centres on the island of Corfu were occupied by residents protesting Education ministry decision to close the local high school due to merger of schools. The occupation will block voting for 3 hours.
-The schools merger caused also some problems to voters in several areas as they headed to vote at schools that they had been shut down. Too bad the Education ministry had failed to inform the Interior Ministry charged with the elections process lol
-Some 400 farmers of several villages in the area of Edessa, NW Macedonia, decided to refrain from voting in order to protest lack of compensation for agricultural damages.
-In Agrinio, a 30 year-old man entered a voting centre and started to shout around. The man was armed with a replica gun. Police disarmed him quickly and found out that he was drunk.
-The party of Independent Greeks filed a complaint claiming that in at least four ballot centres in Attica there were not ballot papers of their party.
–Marika Mitsotakis, 82, wife of former PM Constantinos Mitsotakis and mother of Democratic Alliance leader Dora Bakoyanni, passed away this morning. The irony of the day while the party struggles to pass the 3% threshold: Dora Bakoyannis has her birthday today.
– Former Nea Dimocratia MP and actor Costas Karras died at the age of 77 after long illness.
Ballot boxes will close at 7 pm, at the same time the first official exit poll will be released. First official results are expected around 11-11.30 pm.
PS KTG is off to vote …. There will be live-blogging after 6 pm. But we will post on the elections before as well…
