Australia has seen the first votes lodged for tomorrow’s general election in Greece, as Greeks living in Australia presented themselves at the consulates in Melbourne and Sydney to cast their votes.
Voting went smoothly during the day with no problems reported.
Turnout of course was limited due to the restrictions on who was eligible to register to vote in Australia. At the polling station set up at the Greek Consulate in Melbourne, which was the sole place for electors to cast their vote for people from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the registered voters were believed to be less than 100.
It was reported that there were 98 or fewer (about 77) who were registered on the electoral rolls at the polling station operating at the Greek Consulate in Sydney which covering residents from New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT.
It was not known whether expatriates from other states travelled to Melbourne or Sydney.
However, unconfirmed sources told Neos Kosmos that only one voter from Darwin made the journey to Melbourne (five hours by plane) to vote.
Outside the Greek Consulate in Melbourne there were representatives of New Democracy and the communist KKE parties, with banners and representatives.
The atmosphere was civilised and friendly. One could say that there were more “observers” visiting the consulate than voters.
The votes were placed in special diplomatic bags and sent to Greece where they will be counted.
The main topic of discussion of those in attendance, both inside and outside the consulate was the impressive turnout of Turkish voters nearby.
The Turkish consulate is in very close proximity to the Greek consulate in Melbourne, where Turks in Australia were also voting in the second round of the Turkish presidential election.
Unlike the Greeks in Australia, who did not even cast 200 votes in the national election, it is estimated that at least 20,000 Turks in Australia voted in their country’s presidential election.
Throughout Saturday many thousands of Turks turned up at their consulates and voted.
In Melbourne the queues, throughout the day, were huge.
Earlier on Saturday, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis, via Twitter, called it a “touching moment”. This is the first time Greeks abroad have voted from their place of residence instead of coming to Greece.
“It may be a small first step, as there are many restrictions, but it is also a touching moment that convinces us to continue. So good vote to all our compatriots!” wrote Kyriakos Mitsotakis.