Since 2007, parliamentary elections in Greece have been
carried out under a nationwide bonus-adjusted proportional representation
(BAPR) electoral system. Nevertheless, the Greek electoral system provides
for the subsequent allocation of 288 of 300 Hellenic Parliament (Vouli)
mandates in fifty-six single- and multi-member constituencies, while the
remaining twelve seats are apportioned on a nationwide basis, in the manner
described below.
The twelve nationwide or state mandates are distributed among qualifying
parties (that is, those polling at least three percent of the nationwide
vote) by the largest remainder method of PR - the same method used for the
nationwide allocation of 250 Vouli seats. These are then deducted from the
parties' nationwide PR seat totals to obtain their corresponding constituency
mandate totals, leaving 238 seats to be allocated in the fifty-six
constituencies, plus fifty seats set aside as a majority bonus for the party
with the largest nationwide vote total.
In single-member constituencies, seats are assigned to the qualifying party
with the largest number of votes in each constituency, while in each multi-member
constituency a Hare quota is calculated by dividing the total number of valid
votes cast in the constituency (that is, votes cast for all parties, qualifying
or otherwise) by the number of constituency seats. The number of constituency
votes won by each qualifying party is then divided by the constituency's
Hare quota, and the result, disregarding remainders, is the number of
constituency seats initially assigned to the party. Any remaining seats
in two- and three-seat constituencies are also distributed to the qualifying
parties with the largest remainders, but should a party exceed its overall
PR constituency seat allocation, it has to forfeit the excess mandates obtained
in three-seat constituencies - and two-seat constituencies should the need arise -
with the lowest vote remainders (ranked on the basis of absolute figures).
The qualifying parties are subsequently ranked in ascending order according
to their nationwide vote totals, and for each party its corresponding
multi-member constituency remainder vote totals are ranked in descending
order; the party's largest remainders in constituencies where mandates remain
available are assigned one seat each, until the party reaches its PR constituency
seat total. In other words, these steps are carried out on a party-by-party
basis, starting with the qualifying party with the smallest nationwide vote
total, then the second smallest qualifying party, and so on until there are
no parties with PR constituency seats to be filled. Finally, the fifty majority
bonus seats are allocated to the winning party from the remaining unfilled
seats in the multi-member constituencies.
The procedure for allocating Vouli seats among constituencies is probably
one of the least understood aspects of Greece's electoral system, in no small
measure due to its complexity. However, it must be emphasized that this procedure
does not change the overall political party composition of the Hellenic
Parliament, which is determined by the allocation of legislative mandates
at the national level.
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