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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-07-03
CONTENTS
[01] Voting starts at 7:00 on Sunday, first 'safe' estimates at 21:00
[01] Voting starts at 7:00 on Sunday, first 'safe' estimates at 21:00
ANA-MPA -- The first safe estimate on the results of Sunday's referendum
(July 5) on a proposal submitted by the country's lenders will be
known two hours after the ballots close, at about 21.00 Greek time,
Singular Logic - the company responsible for handling and transmitting
the results - said on Friday.
Mihalis Kariotoglou, the president and CEO of the company, said that to
have a safe estimation, three conditions have to be fulfilled: 1. the
results must be collected from 100 pct of the country's polling stations,
2. these polling stations must be equally distributed throughout the
country and 3. The difference between the two answers must be above
4 pct. On the contrary, the lower the difference between ‘yes' and
‘no', the longer it will take to extract a safe result. Another basic
precondition for securing a safe estimation at 21.00, is for the ballots
to close at 17.00, as the law stipulates. However, an Interior ministry
circular allows the extension of the electoral process by up to two hours
at polling stations where voters are still queuing. In these cases, it is
prohibited to transmit results until every last ballot has been closed.
The first estimation will be based on the SRT system, which was introduced
in 2006 and constitutes of special mobile phones which are distributed
among judicial representatives of 4,800 polling stations who inform the
company on the result. Polls will open at 07.00 Greek time and will
close at 19.00. Voters will be given two ballots: One with the question
of the referendum and a second one which will be blank. Citizens must
write a cross either in the box under their preferred response, or on
the left or right of their response. For the referendum to be valid,
at least 40 pct of the electoral body must participate. Because of
the tight time limits of the referendum, expatriates will not be able
to vote, while 108,371 18-year-olds will be voting for the first time.
Greeks are expected to vote in the same polling stations as they did in
January's national elections. To find the exact location, citizens can
click on the Interior ministry's webpage (www.ypes.gr) and then click on
the "Elections" option. Voters can also call the ministry at 213 1361500
until the ballots close.
To facilitate transport, tolls in major national highways will be free,
while state railway company TRAINOSE, intercity buses and Aegean Airways
are offering reduced ticket prices.
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