Galery

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Marina Nikolova

Before tomorrow's elections, the streets of Athens are calm and the usual for the weekend traffic around the cafes of Monastiraki in the center is pretty underwhelming. "The usual suspects", who are otherwise walking lively around the city center have gone in their home cities to vote. Here and there, are to be seen some young people with suitcases - they arrive in Athens or hurry to go back to their birthplace.

A brief survey in relation to the elections clearly shows the determination of the Athenians to give their vote tomorrow, few are those who have not decided whether they will go to the polls and even less are those who definitely refuse to give their votes.

Athenians enjoy their walk in the beautiful sunny day before the first elections for the country in which they will vote for governors who were appointed so far as well as the first elections in which the immigrants will also vote. Again, for the first time in many years for these elections there will be no preliminary results, based on surveys exit poll. This year, private televisions have decided that this would prove to be quite expensive for them. The total amount they had to pay was 120,000 euros being divided in 30,000 euros for each TV channel.

"Yes, I will vote. My vote would be given as an act of protest. If necessary, let's go to early parliamentary elections. Either way we will come to this, so let's get there quicker."

Triad Zografou, private employee

"Yes I will vote and the criteria which will determine my vote are political. I myself do not agree with the announcement of preliminary elections."

Vassilis Diamandopoulos, salesman

"Yes, I will vote tomorrow, because I believe something must be changed in this country. I do not think there would be early parliamentary elections and I myself do not agree with this perspective. "

Catherina, a kindergarten teacher

So, tomorrow will be elected 713 advisors in the regional administrations, 9,257 municipal councilors in 13 districts and in 325 municipalities. Only few hours remain before the "Kalikratis" polls open and voters elect representatives to local councils through the new system marking with a cross which has been established. For the first time counselors will not be appointed by the municipality or district, but by the voters themselves.

Polls will open at 7 am on November 7 - Sunday and will close at 7 pm the same day. In municipal and district authorities, where the first party can not gather  50% +1 of the ballots re-elections will be held on November 14 in the same hours. In the event that the elections can not take place for whatever reason in a given town hall or in some polling center, then they will be held on November 10, 2010

In the election for mayor will take part the citizens of countries outside and in the European Union  who meet all the criteria to vote, but these two groups will not be entitled to vote for governors. The residents of other countries, elderly people over 70 years and all who live on the day of the elections in more than 200 km. away from the electoral center, where they vote and took a statement from the municipality in which they live are not obliged to vote.

Voters can obtain information about the place where they vote from:

- City Hall in which they live

- From the website of the Ministry of Interior www.ypes.gr, in the section "learn where you vote", where citizens will have to enter their personal data and the number for the elections, which they have

- From call center 1500 and 1570 for Piraeus

Voters will have to take their passport, identity card, driving license or health insurance card to vote. When voters arrive at the center where the vote, first they will vote for governor and then for mayor.