Electoral systems

Moldovan deputies voted on Wednesday to scrap their much criticised "mixed" voting system, made it easier for Moldovans living abroad to vote, and restored the former proportional voting system.

It has not been tried out yet in practice, but the strange consequences of proportional representation are evident when one simply looks at the results of the recent local and regional elections in Greece.

Europeans started voting on May 23 for four days of elections at the European Parliament (EP) that will influence Brussels' policies for the next five years. There are also candidates of Turkish descent in these election lists who are likely to be elected.

The voters will choose from 12 political parties competing in the local elections.       

The Parliament has restored the previous barrier in preferential voting, Focus News Agency reports. The threshold in preferential voting in local and general elections will be 7%, and that in European elections - 5%. Thus, the MPs revoked the higher thresholds adopted through amendments to the Electoral Code on February 14, 2019 that caused public discontent.

A government proposal to introduce a system of simple proportional representation for local elections is set to be put to a parliamentary vote by February, Kathimerini has learned.

Plans to change the electoral system have met with opposition from Greek mayors.

There are queues and tension during the snap elections in voting sections in Turkey.

In Bursa, where there are traditionally a huge number of people wishing to vote, the eelction process was halted for about ten minutes when voters burst into the building.

Bulgarians who will vote in the country in the snap parliamentary elections on March 26 will be able to note their preference for a candidate for parliamentary deputy on the list of the preferred political formation but Bulgarians voting abroad will not be able to do so.

A court will sit on Friday to determine whether the referendum held in November on the voting system is binding and whether machine voting should be mandatory for all polling stations.

Voters overwhelmingly backed in November the introduction of a majority electoral system, a drastic cut in party subsidies, and mandatory voting in both elections and referenda.

More eligible voters have cast ballots in Bulgaria's presidential runoff vote as of 13:00 on Sunday, officials say.

Activity was 27.2%, or more than 1.847 million people, as of that hour, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) data.