1961 Greek legislative election

1961 Greek legislative election

29 October 1961
All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament 151 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Konstantinos Karamanlis Georgios Papandreou Ioannis Passalidis Party ERE EK–KP PAME Last election 41.16%, 171 seats 31.29%, 46 seats 24.42%, 60 seats Seats won 176 100 24 Seat change 5 54 36 Popular vote 2,347,824 1,555,442 675,867 Percentage 50.81% 33.66% 14.63% Swing 9.65pp 2.37pp 9.79pp
Prime Minister before election Konstantinos Karamanlis ERE Prime Minister after election Konstantinos Karamanlis ERE

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 29 October 1961 to elect members of the Hellenic Parliament. The result was a third consecutive victory for Konstantinos Karamanlis and his National Radical Union (ERE), which won 176 of the 300 seats.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Radical Union	2,347,824	50.81	176	+5
	Centre Union–Progressive Party	1,555,442	33.66	100	+54
	All-Democratic Agricultural Front	675,867	14.63	24	–36
	List of Independents	41,550	0.90	0	0
Total		4,620,683	100.00	300	0
Valid votes		4,620,683	99.55
Invalid/blank votes		20,803	0.45
Total votes		4,641,486	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,688,298	81.60
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The elections were quickly denounced by both main opposition parties, the leftist United Democratic Left (campaigning as part of the All-Democratic Agricultural Front) and the Centre Union. They refused to recognise the result because of the numerous cases of voter intimidation and irregularities, such as sudden massive increases in support for ERE against historical patterns and the voting by deceased persons. The Centre Union alleged that the election result had been staged by the agents of the shadowy deep state (παρακράτος), including the army leadership, the Greek Central Intelligence Service and the notoriously right-wing National Guard Defence Battalions, according to a prepared emergency plan codenamed Pericles (Σχέδιο «Περικλής»). Although irregularities certainly occurred, the existence of Pericles was never proven, and it is uncertain that the interference in the elections had radically influenced the outcome. Nevertheless, Centre Union leader George Papandreou initiated an "unrelenting struggle" ("ανένδοτος αγών") until new and fair elections were held. Thus, the 1961 elections became known in the Greek political history as the "elections of violence and fraud" (εκλογές της βίας και νοθείας).

Sources

• Clogg, Richard (1987). Parties and Elections in Greece: The Search for Legitimacy. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-0794-5.