There will be a large increase in the number of Europeans who will vote in the October local elections according to figures released yesterday.

Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said that 8,921 European Union citizens, including people from the 10 newest member states, will vote in October.

This is six times more than those who voted in the 1998 local elections, which were the first polls in which non-Greeks could cast their ballot. This year’s figure is also 2.5 times higher than the number of EU citizens that voted in the 2002 local elections.

Almost 3,000 of the voters are Britons, who make up the largest group, followed by more than 1,800 German nationals who registered before the June 30 deadline.

Foreigners will be able to vote in the municipal and community polls but not the prefectural elections.