Sitaropoulos and Giakoumpoulos v. Greece, No. 42202/07, ECtHR (Grand Chamber), 15 March 2012

Lack of legislation covering procedure for Greek nationals resident overseas to vote in parliamentary elections.

Art. 3, Prot. 1 ECHR

1. According to the interpretation of Art. 3, Port. 1 to the ECHR and as pointed out by the Venice Commission, facilitating the exercise of the right to vote by expatriates, while certainly desirable, is not mandatory for states, but rather a possibility to be considered by the legislature of each country.

2. Secondly, a comparative survey of the legislations of the Member States of the Council of Europe, carried out by the Venice Commission, showed that legislation on this point varies considerably between countries, which implies that the Contracting States have a wide margin of discretion in this matter.
(The two applicants, Greek nationals residing abroad, complained that they were unable to exercise their right to vote actively abroad because Greece had not adopted a law on the matter).