How the Greek general election works

A look at how Greek voters chose their government and members of parliament in Sunday’s election:

VOTERS: 9,834,970 eligible voters, casting ballots at 20,828 polling stations in 56 electoral districts. Voting age is 18. Voting is compulsory but penalties for unjustified abstention have been relaxed and are generally not enforced.

CANDIDATES: About 4,000 candidates ran for the 300 seats in Greece’s unicameral parliament. One hundred and fifty-one seats are required from a single party or coalition to form a government, headed by the prime minister, who holds the country’s main executive powers. Greece’s president holds a largely ceremonial post and is elected by parliament in a separate process every five years.

VOTING RULES: Under the electoral law, 260 seats are allocated by proportional representation based on votes counted nationwide. The remaining 40 are automatically awarded to the party that wins the most votes. Candidates are elected by preferential ballot, but voters cannot chose candidates from different parties. Parties must receive at least 3 percent of the nationwide vote to be represented in parliament.

TERMS: Parliament members serve four-year terms, but governing parties can call elections early.

PARTIES: Twenty-three parties fielded candidates. Socialist opposition leader George Papandreou’s Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement, known by its Greek acronym PASOK, went into the elections ahead in opinion polls, followed by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’ conservative New Democracy, the Greek Communist Party, the far-right Popular Orthodox Rally, and the Left Coalition.

ISSUES: Greece’s rapidly cooling economy, which is expected to enter recession this year, was the main campaign issue. The government sought a new mandate to pass necessary but unpopular reforms. With a steep budget deficit and public debt forecast, New Democracy had pledged to freeze state sector salaries, pensions and hiring, cut spending and take severe action against widespread tax evasion. PASOK wants to inject up to euro3 billion ($4.36 billion) to stimulate the economy, give public sector workers above-inflation pay rises and boost infrastructure investment. Both main parties favor a more cohesive European Union and have few foreign policy differences. New Democracy had said it would press ahead with privatizations, after successfully selling loss-making state carrier Olympic Airlines. PASOK said it would fight corruption and increase tax on the rich.