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Parliament votes to change election law

Parliament votes to change election law

Greece’s Parliament on Friday approved a proposal by the country’s conservative government to abolish an election system based on proportional representation.

The proposal, which garnered 163 votes from New Democracy and Greek Solution MPs, fell short of the 200 votes needed for the changes to take effect ahead of the next general election. A total of 121 lawmakers voted against it.

According to the bill, the party with the most votes in the election will get a “bonus” of additional seats that increase depending on its share of the vote, provided it has received at least 25 percent of the vote.

A bonus of 20 extra seats will be given to the first party, with the remaining 280 seats divided among the parties in proportion to their share of the vote.

The bonus will increase by one seat for every 0.5 percent of the vote above 25, to reach a maximum of 50 seats for parties that get 40 percent of the vote nationwide.

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