14 SITAROPOULOS AND GIAKOUMOPOULOS v. GREECE JUDGMENT sent to the municipality concerned and the person’s name is added to the list of expatriate voters. 42. In Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia, the list of expatriate voters is drawn up by the diplomatic or consular mission on the basis of requests from voters. Croatian citizens wishing to vote abroad must register with the Croatian embassy or consulate. Latvian voters who wish to vote by post have to apply to the diplomatic mission or consulate concerned, where they are registered on a special list. In the Netherlands, expatriates eligible and wishing to vote must request registration on the electoral roll of Dutch nationals living abroad by applying to the head of the consular mission, who forwards the request to The Hague. In Portugal, voting abroad entails prior registration on a consular list of voters. Swiss citizens living abroad must apply to the diplomatic or consular mission with which they are registered. The application is forwarded to the municipality in which the person concerned habitually voted, and he or she is registered on the electoral roll there. In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, expatriate voters are registered on the country’s electoral roll after applying to the diplomatic mission or consulate. In Turkey, expatriate voters must register on a special electoral roll by submitting a declaration of residence to the nearest consulate. 43. In other countries, expatriate voters do not have to complete any formalities in order to register, as the authorities register them automatically on the basis of the existing lists of voters. This is the case in Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova, Norway, Romania, Sweden and Ukraine. Voters who are not on the electoral roll may register on request (for instance in France, Georgia, Italy and Ukraine). 44. In Iceland, voters must re-register on the national electoral roll after eight years’ residence abroad; in Norway and Sweden, the time-limit is ten years. 45. In some countries which have automatic registration, expatriates must complete certain formalities in order to vote in their country of origin. For instance, Italian voters resident abroad who wish to vote in Italy must inform the relevant consular authority in writing. French expatriates must request registration on the electoral roll in France if they wish to vote there. THE LAW ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF PROTOCOL No. 1 46. The applicants alleged that their inability to vote from their place of residence amounted to disproportionate interference with the exercise of