ECHR on Greeks abroad vote


SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "ECHR on Greeks abroad vote", url: "http://eu.greekreporter.com/2010/07/10/echr-on-greeks-abroad-vote/" });
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Greece has “not proceeded to ensure through the necessary legislation that the Greeks living abroad will be able to exercise the right to vote from their place of residence.”Nevertheless, the Court declined to award compensation to the plaintiffs.

The applicants, Nikolaos Sitaropoulos and Christos Giakoumopoulos, both living in Strasbourg, France, appealed to ECHR because they were unable to exercise their right to vote in the Sept. 16, 2007 Greek national elections from their place of residence. Both are Court of Europe (CoE) officials.According to the ruling — issued on July 8, 2010 — the applicants contacted the Greek ambassador to France on Sept. 10, 2007 and requested to exercise their voting rights in France for the Greek parliamentary elections, being permanent residents of France.