NEW YORK – Greek Minister of the Interior Niki Kerameus attended a press conference at the Consulate General of Greece in New York on March 28 to continue to spread the word about postal voting in the upcoming European Union elections.

Kerameus highlighted two key points, that restrictions have been lifted on Greeks voting abroad and that all Greek citizens who are registered voters should take advantage of the convenience of signing up online for postal voting in the election for members of the European Parliament.

Consul General of Greece in New York Ambassador Dinos Konstantinou gave the welcoming remarks, thanking the Minister of the Interior for her efforts, and reminding everyone of the help line at the Consulate for those requiring assistance while signing up online for postal voting. The number is 973-921-7374.

Kerameus thanked Consul General Konstantinou, the Consulate staff, and everyone for attending, noting that it was the last day of this informational campaign across the United States and Canada during which she visited six cities San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, Boston, and New York. She pointed out that in Toronto, she was with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at basically every event with the members of the Greek community living in Canada.

After the law passed last summer to remove restrictions on voting, Kerameus noted that there were still practical restrictions, such as the distance many had to travel to vote at their nearest Consulate. For example, someone in Buffalo would have to drive six and a half hours to get to the Consulate and vote while someone in Australia might have to take a three-hour flight to vote.

The platform is open for those signing up for postal voting, she said, adding that the total so far of those who had signed up was about 43,000 from 102 countries including Indonesia, Papua-New Guinea, Ivory Coast, Angola, Kenya, and Kazakhstan. She mentioned those countries in particular she said because these were countries where there was no voting center operating during the last elections. “This is a significant victory for postal voting that it is making it easier for Greek citizens from around the world to exercise their right to vote,” Kerameus said, adding that the platform is open until April 29 for those signing up for Postal voting and indeed changes can be made until April 29 when the platform closes so that the ballots can be mailed out in a timely manner. The deadline for mailing back the completed ballot to Greece via courier paid for by the government will also be included in the mailed ballots.

“This unique opportunity to meet with so many Greeks living abroad was very moving because I found myself in very far off cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, imagine how far away they feel from Europe, European ties and we’re talking about European elections, but I must say that no matter how far away we were, I felt like their heart and soul were in Greece and postal voting is a bridge that connects in a powerful way all the Greeks abroad with the motherland, with Greece,” Kerameus said.

She then took questions from the members of the media and later gave a presentation on postal voting at a reception at the Consul General’s residence followed later on with many community members present including John Catsimatidis, Dr. George Dangas, Eftihia Pylarinou-Piper, Nicolas Bornozis, Olga Bornozi, Dr. Miranda Kofinas, Nancy Papaioannou, George Zapantis, and Sylvia and Panos Adamopoulos.

Greek citizens who are registered in the election rolls can register online for postal voting: epistoliki.ypes.gov.gr.