Center-left candidates pre-printing marked ballots
The authority responsible for overseeing next Sunday’s elections for the chief of a new center-left party said on Monday that certain candidates have been distributing pre-marked ballots.
The Independent Authority for Procedures & Ethics said it has come to its attention that a large number of ballots have been printed by certain candidates, in violation of the rules drawn up for the elections by the authority.
Authority chief Nikos Alivizatos stressed that the reason why the authority was selected to oversee the process and all related printing is “not just to ensure the secrecy of the vote, but mainly to do away with the familiar old-school practice of candidates handing out marked ballots to their friends.”
One of the candidates, Stavros Theodorakis, currently chief of the centrist To Potami party, also reacted to the allegations.
“Instead of looking ahead and going with an electronic vote, some [candidates] started printing ballots and distributing them already marked,” he said. “Welcome to the 70s!”
