The European Parliament election of 2009 in Greece for the election of the delegation from Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 to the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 in 2009 took place on June 7, 2009. The election system used in Greece is party-list proportional representation

Party-list proportional representation

Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...

 with a 3% threshold for any party. The number of seats allocated to Greece declined from 24 to 22, as a result of new member states joining the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 (EU). Consistent with EU-wide rules, Greek citizens resident in another of the 26-member states were permitted to vote in the place where they currently reside.
On 24 May, the Greek Court of Cassation

Court of Cassation (Greece)

The Court of Cassation is the Supreme Court of Greece for civil and criminal law. The Court of Cassation's decisions are irrevocable. If the Court of Cassation concludes that a lower court violated the law or the principles of the procedure, then it can order the rehearing of the case by the lower...

, the country's supreme court, accepted the applications of 27 of the 33 parties which applied to contest the elections.

The court banned six parties from participating:

• Alternative Ecologists
  Alternative Ecologists
  The Alternative Ecologists , officially the Federation of Ecologists and Alternative Groups, was a federation of several groups created after the good performance of an autonomous electoral platform also called Alternative Ecologists in the 1989 European Parliament elections in Greece...
  
  
• Party of Responsible Citizenship (Κόμμα του υπεύθυνου πολίτη)^{http://ksarinas.blogspot.com/}
• Dimokratiki^{http://dimokratikoi.gr}
• Party of Uprising Pensioners of Greece (Κομματικός Ξεσηκωμός Συνταξιούχων Ελλάδας)
• Panagriarian Workers Movement (Παναγροτικό Εργατικό Κίνημα)
• Political Greek-European Animal-Loving Movement (Πολιτικό Ελληνοευρωπαϊκό Φιλοζωικό Κίνημα)
• Animal-Loving Ecologists of Greece (Οικολόγοι Ζωόφιλοι Ελλάδος)

In addition, the court ruled that the following parties could not participate as part of the Coalition of the Radical Left

Coalition of the Radical Left

The Coalition of the Radical Left , commonly known by its Greek abbreviation ΣΥΡΙΖΑ , is a coalition of left political parties in Greece...

:

• Democratic Social Movement
  Democratic Social Movement
  The Democratic Social Movement is a Greek democratic socialist political party...
  
  
• Movement of Active Citizens
  Active Citizens
  Active Citizens is a left-wing political party in Greece and member of the SYRIZA political coalition. Its most prominent delegate is Manolis Glezos, former member of the Hellenic Parliament under the flag of EDA and the man who replaced the Nazi flag with a Greek one on the Acropolis during World...
  
  
• Movement for the United in Action Left
  Movement for the United in Action Left
  Movement for the United in Action Left is a political party in Greece that is part of the Coalition of the Radical Left.KEDA was formed in the early 2000s, by a splinter group of major party officials of the Communist Party of Greece , most prominently Yiannis Theonas and Mitsos Kostopoulos...
  
  
• Kokkino^{http://www.kokkino.org}
• Xekinima
  Xekinima - Socialist Internationalist Organisation
  -Foundation:Xekininma's roots can be traced to the mid-1970’s when Greek society was going through major upheavals, and was seen by many as moving to left-radical policies as a result of the collapse of the military dictatorship and the international situation....
  
  
• Ecosocialists Greece^{http://ecosocialistsgreece.blogspot.com/}

• Group Rosa (Ομάδα ΡΟΖΑ)

A judicial dispute ensued, when Drasi

Drasi

Drasi is a minor Greek political party.Founded in 2009, it is led by former government minister Stefanos Manos. Unlike Manos's previous party, it was not founded as a liberal party, but espouses "common sense" as an ideological basis....

 filed a petition before the Council of State

Council of State (Greece)

In Greece, the Council of State is the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece.-Organization:...

 to annul the ministerial decision, through which the time for political advertising spots on the radio and television would be allocated, since it disproportionately favored established parties.