Legislative election results map. Blue denotes prefectures won by New Democracy, Green denotes those won by PASOK.

Legislative elections were held in Greece on March 7, 2004. At stake were 300 seats in the Greek Parliament, the Vouli (Greek: Βουλή). The New Democracy Party of Costas Karamanlis won a decisive victory in the elections, ending eleven years of rule by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). The Hellenic Parliament (Greek: Βουλή των Ελλήνων; transliterated Vouli ton Ellinon; literally Council of the Greeks) is the parliament of Greece, located in Syntagma Square in Athens. ... The Presidium is the group of individuals elected by the Hellenic Parliament to deal with the business of organizing and running the Parliament. ... The Conference of Presidents is a collective institution of the Hellenic Parliament. ... The Parliament of Greece naturally assumes legislative responsibilities within the framework of the state, a key part of this parliamentary process (in any liberal democracy) is the establishment and running of Parliamentary committees on all manner of state decisions. ... This is a list of presidents of Greece. ... Karolos Papoulias Karolos Papoulias (Greek: Κάρολος Παπούλιας) is the President of the Hellenic Republic, former minister and member of the Hellenic parliament. ... The President of the Hellenic Republic has a number of minor departments underneath him in order to help the President of the Republic in the exercise of his duties. ... The Prime Minister of Greece (Πρωθυπουργός in Greek) is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet. ... Konstantínos Alexandrou Karamanlís (Κωνσταντίνος Αλεξάνδρου Καραμανλής, in Greek; generally known as Costas Caramanlis, Costas Karamanlis, or Kóstas Karamanlís, born September 14, 1956) became Prime Minister of Greece on March 10, 2004 following his partys victory in the March 7 parliamentary elections. ... The cabinet of Greece is comprised of the heads of the major ministries. ... In Greece, the independence of the justice is safeguarded by the Constitution. ... In Greece, the Supreme Special Court (Greek: Ανώτατο Ειδικό Δικαστήριο) is provided for in the article 100 of the Constitution. ... The Court of Cassation is the Supreme Court of Greece. ... In Greece, the Counil of State (sometimes Counsel of State or State Council, Greek: Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας) is, at the same time, an administrative organ (one of the three Big Bodies of the greek Public Administration) and the Supreme Administrative Court. ... In Greece, the Chamber of Accounts (or Court of Accounts or Court of Auditors or Audit Court, French: Cour des Comptes , Greek: Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο) is, at the same time, an administrative organ (one of the three Big Bodies of the greek Public Administration) and a Supreme Administrative Court with a special jursdiction... The peripheries (περιφέρειες) are the subnational divisions of Greece. ... The super-prefectures of Greece are a second-degree organization of local self-government and an administrative division between the peripheries and the prefectures. ... Greece consists of 13 administrative regions known as Peripheries of Greece, which are further subdivided into 51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos, Greek: νομοί, νομός)): See also List of the prefectures of Greece by area List of the prefectures of Greece by population density List of the prefectures of Greece by population External... Communities and municipalities of Greece are one of several levels of government within the organizational structure of that country. ... Elections in Greece gives information on election and election results in Greece. ... The 2006 Greek local elections will elect representatives to Greeces 3 super-prefectures, 54 prefectures, provinces, and approximately 1,033 communities and municipalities. ... Under the current electoral system, a party needs to surpass a 3% threshold in the popular vote in order to enter parliament. ... The European Union or EU is a supranational and international organization of 27 member states. ... Greece was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the United Nations Security Council, on 15 October 2004 , as a non-permanent member for 2005 and 2006. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Party logo New Democracy (ND, Greek: Νέα Δημοκρατία, Nea Dhimokratia), founded in 1974, is the main center-right liberal-conservative political party in Greece. ... Party logo The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, better known as PASOK (Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima, ΠΑΣΟΚ), is a Greek social democratic political party. ... is the 66th day of the year (67th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Party logo New Democracy (ND, Greek: Νέα Δημοκρατία, Nea Dhimokratia), founded in 1974, is the main center-right liberal-conservative political party in Greece. ... Costas Caramanlis Costas Caramanlis (in Greek Kostas or Konstantinos Karamanlis, Κωστας or Κωνσταντινος Καραμανλης) (born September 14, 1956) became Prime Minister of Greece on March... The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, better known as PASOK (Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima, ΠΑΣΟΚ), is a Greek social democratic political party. ...

PASOK was led into the elections by George Papandreou, who succeeded retiring Prime Minister Costas Simitis as party leader in February. He was opposed by New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis. George Papandreou as Foreign Minister of Greece For George Papandreous grandfather, also called George Papandreou, see George Papandreou, senior. ... Constantinos Simitis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Σημίτης) (born June 23, 1936), usually referred to as Costas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) from 1996 to 2004. ... Costas Caramanlis Costas Caramanlis (in Greek Kostas or Konstantinos Karamanlis, Κωστας or Κωνσταντινος Καραμανλης) (born September 14, 1956) became Prime Minister of Greece on March...

The leaders

Greek politics are strongly dynastic. Costas Karamanlis is the nephew of Constantine Karamanlis, who was three times Prime Minister and twice President of Greece, and founder of New Democracy after the restoration of democracy in 1974. George Papandreou is the son of Andreas Papandreou, twice Prime Minister and founder of PASOK, and the grandson of George Papandreou, a liberal who was also twice Prime Minister. The Greek newspaper Kathemerini quoted a Greek voter during the campaign as saying: "Greeks like to know where our leaders have come from. We feel we know these families as well as we know our own." This article is about the former Greek president who lived from 1907 to 1998. ... A blonde haired, very skilled worker with a 70s look. ... Andreas Georgiou Papandreou, Ανδρέας Γ. Παπανδρέου (5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a towering figure in Greek politics. ... George Papandandreou George Papandreou (in Greek Georgios Papandreou or Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου) (18 February 1888 - 1 November 1968) was a Greek politician. ...

The campaign

In January New Democracy was leading PASOK in opinion polls by 7%. But Papandreou's election to the party leadership allowed PASOK to regain ground. During February Papandreou campaigned on "the need for change" in Greece, hoping to neutralise the strong sentiment for a change of government. By late February New Democracy's lead in the opinion polls had been cut to 3%.

The Athens daily Kathemerini commented: "Now, two weeks before the elections, all opinion polls show PASOK 3 to 4.5 percentage points behind ND. This raises the question of whether PASOK can snatch victory away from ND. The fact is that much is unclear. For example, although PASOK has little support, its leader has a good image in public opinion polls." Athens (Ancient Greek: αἱ Ἀθῆναι (plural), evolving into the modern Αθήναι in Greek until recently, and Αθήνα nowadays (IPA ); singular: see Origin of the name below) is both the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ...

The electoral campaign concluded on in the traditional manner, with huge televised mass rallies in the centre of Athens by each of the major parties. On the evening of 4 March Karamanlis addressed an estimated 200,000 at the ND's concluding rally. PASOK claimed that twice that number attended their rally on 6 March, but these numbers cannot be independently verified. At the ND rally, Karamanlis said that PASOK had been in power too long and had grown lazy and corrupt. At the PASOK rally, Papandreou evoked the memory of his father but said that he would lead a government dedicated to reform and change, as well as action against corruption. Athens (Ancient Greek: αἱ Ἀθῆναι (plural), evolving into the modern Αθήναι in Greek until recently, and Αθήνα nowadays (IPA ); singular: see Origin of the name below) is both the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Since publication of opinion polls is banned in the last two weeks of Greek election campaigns, it was not possible to predict the outcome of the election, except to say that ND appeared to have been leading when the last polls were published, and that most commentators expected the result in terms of votes to be close. Greek electoral law ensures, through a complex algorithm of parliamentary seat redistribution, that a party polling a plurality of the vote (that is, more than any other party) is practically guaranteed a majority in Parliament.

A "threshold" of 3% of the total popular vote is also required by law for a party to be eligible for representation in Parliament. This provision kept all but the four top-polling parties from securing parliamentary seats.

The result

The result of the election was not as close as observers expected. It appears that ND regained its earlier lead over PASOK in the two weeks after the last opinion polls, and that the election of George Papandreou as PASOK leader was not sufficient to overcome the desire of the electorate for a change after a long period of PASOK rule.

Summary of the 7 March 2004 Greek Parliament election results			Votes			Seats
			No.	%	+− %	No.	+−
	New Democracy	Louis Milosevski	3,359,058	45.4	+2.7	165	+39
	Panhellenic Socialist Movement	George Papandreou	3,002,531	40.5	-3.2	117	−40
	Communist Party of Greece	Aleka Papariga	436,573	5.9	+0.4	12	+1
	Coalition of the Radical Left	Alekos Alavanos	241,539	3.3	+0.1	6	0
	Popular Orthodox Rally	Georgios Karatzaferis	162,103	2.2	-	0	-
	Democratic Social Movement	Dimitris Tsovolas	132,750	1.8	-0.9	0	-
	Union of Centrists	Vassilis Leventis	19,531	0.3	+0	0	-
	Radical Left Front		11,261	0.2	+0	0	-
	Communist Party of Greece (Marxist-Leninist)		10,764	0.2	+0	0	-
	Anti-Capitalist Coalition		8,313	0.1	-	0	-
	Hellenic Front	Makis Voridis	6,751	0.1	-	0	-
	Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece		4,846	0.1	+0	0	-
	Militant Socialist Party of Greece		3,180	0.0	+0	0	-
	Liberal Party (Greece)		2,658	0.0	-	0	-
	Organization for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece		2,099	0.0	+0	0	-
	Independent candidates		892	0.01			-
	Hristopistia Χριστοπιστία		95	0.0			-
No. of valid votes			7,404,934	100,00		300
Invalid votes			166,667
Total			7,571,601 (75.6%)
Source: Official results from Greek Interior Ministry The results of the Coalition of the Radical Left are compared with the 2000 results of the Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology (Συνασπισμός της Αριστεράς, των Κινημάτων, και της Οικολογίας- Synaspismos tis Aristeras, ton Kinimaton, kal tis Oikologias), the main party of the coalition.

The Hellenic Parliament (Greek: Βουλή των Ελλήνων; transliterated Vouli ton Ellinon; literally Council of the Greeks) is the parliament of Greece, located in Syntagma Square in Athens. ... New Democracy logo This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Party logo New Democracy (ND, Greek: Νέα Δημοκρατία, Nea Dhimokratia), founded in 1974, is the main center-right liberal-conservative political party in Greece. ... PASOK Green Sun logo Had to be edited with the GIMP to remove some of its background. ... The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, better known as PASOK (Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima, ΠΑΣΟΚ), is a Greek social democratic political party. ... George Papandreou as Foreign Minister of Greece For George Papandreous grandfather, also called George Papandreou, see George Papandreou, senior. ... Image File history File links kke_sima The uploader claims that this image is of course public domain. ... Party logo The Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Kommunistiko Komma Elladas), better known by its acronym ΚΚΕ (usually pronounced koo-koo-eh) , is the communist party in Greece. ... Aleka Papariga (Greek: Αλέκα Παπαρήγα) (born 1945) is a communist Greek politician who has served the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) as its general secretary, since 1991. ... Image File history File links Syrizalogo. ... SYRIZA symbol Coalition of the Radical Left (in Greek: Synaspismos tis Rizospastikis Aristeras or SYRIZA) is a coalition of left political parties in Greece. ... Alekos Alavanos Alekos (Alexandros) Alavanos (Greek: Αλέκος Αλαβάνος) is a Greek politician, member of the Hellenic Parliament, former member of the European Parliament and president of the Synaspismos party of the radical left since 2004. ... Image File history File links Laoslogo. ... Logo of the Popular Orthodox Rally. ... Georgios Karatzaferis (born August 11, 1947) is a Greek politician and leader of the patriotic LA.O.S. party (Popular Orthodox Rally). ... Image File history File links Dhkki. ... The Democratic Social Movement (Greek: Dimokratiko Koinoniko Kinima (), Δημοκρατικο Κοινωνικο Κινημα ()) was a Greek democratic socialist political party. ... Dimitris Tsovolas is a politican in Greece. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Union of Centrists (Greek: Ενωση Κεντρώων Enosi Kentroon) is a political party in Greece without parliamentary representation. ... Vassilis Leventis at his show on Extra Channel Vassilis Leventis (Greek: Βασίλης or Βασίλειος Λεβέντης; born 1951, Messinia, Greece) is a Greek politician, leader of the Greek centrist party, Union of Centrists (Greek: Ένωση Κεντρώων). Vassilis Leventis is the fourth child of Apostolos and Gregoria Leventis. ... Image File history File links Meragreece. ... Radical Left Front (ME.R.A.) is a coalition of political radical left parties in Greece. ... Image File history File links Kkeml_gr. ... Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist) (in Greek: Kommounistiko Komma Elladas (marxistiko-leninistiko)), a communist political party in Greece. ... Image File history File links Antikapitalistiki. ... The Socialist Workers Party of Greece (SEK) is an affiliate of the International Socialist Tendency (IST). ... The Hellenic Front official logo This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... The Hellenic Front is a Greek political party with a strongly nationalist platform, founded in 1994. ... Makis Voridis (Greek: Μάκης Βορίδης) was born in Athens, Greece in 1964. ... Image File history File links Mlkke. ... The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece, better known by its acronym M-L KKE (Greek: Îœ - Λ Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Marxistiko - Leninistiko Kommunistiko Komma Elladas), is a communist maoist party in Greece. ... Image File history File links Askelogo. ... ASKE logo Militant Socialist Party of Greece (ASKE), a political party in Greece. ... Komma Fileleftheron (Greek: Κόμμα Φιλελευθέρων - literally Party of the Friends of Liberty; usually translated as Liberal Party) was one of the major Greek political parties of the early 20th Century. ... Image File history File links Oakke2. ... The Organization for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Οργάνωση για την Ανασυγκρότηση του Κομουνι&#963... SYRIZA symbol Coalition of the Radical Left (in Greek: Synaspismos tis Rizospastikis Aristeras or SYRIZA) is a coalition of left political parties in Greece. ... Party logo The Coalition of the Left, of Social Movements and Ecology (Shorter: Coalition or SYN from the Greek: Synaspismos, Συνασπισμός), initially, until 2004, called Coalition of Left and Progress, is a Greek political party of the radical left. ...

Tables

Party seats in the parliament after the elections of 2004

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

External links

• Greek election statistics from Adam Carr's Electoral Archive

Greek Parliamentary elections v • d • e

1843 | 1844 | 1847 | 1850 | 1853 | 1856 | 1859 | 1861 | 1862 | 1865 | 1868 | 1869 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874 | 1875 | 1879 | 1881 | 1885 | 1887 | 1890 | 1892 | 1895 | 1899 | 1902 | 1905 | 1906 | 1910 (Aug) | 1910 (Nov) | 1912 | 1915 (May) | 1915 (Dec) | 1920 | 1923 | 1926 | 1928 | 1932 | 1933 | 1935 | 1936 | 1946 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1956 | 1958 | 1961 | 1963 | 1964 | 1974 | 1977 | 1981 | 1985 | 1989 (Jun) | 1989 (Nov) | 1990 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2007

Greek Senate elections

1929 | 1932

Greek referenda

1920 | 1924 | 1935 | 1946 | 1968 | 1973 | 1974