With only three weeks left until the national elections to be held on January 25, the publication of opinion polls has become a regular affair and the majority of local media are trying to decipher the results.

Surveys are useful tools that can help the analysts determine the factors that will play an important part in the upcoming elections. These factors may be political, financial or even meteorological, as some analysts suggest.

Specifically for Greece, the recent deterioration of the weather conditions throughout the country may eventually influence the outcome of the elections, as it is bound to affect the citizens’ participation percentages.

Another factor that may affect the outcome of the upcoming elections is also the non-revision of electoral rolls for young voters, i.e. for people born in 1997, who will turn 18 in 2015. These people will not exercise their voting rights on December 25, contrary to what happened in the European elections for those born in 1996, who voted even though they hadn’t turned 18 yet.

Given that young voters usually turn away from the traditional governing parties, this development is expected to have a more adverse effect on SYRIZA and To Potami, which are preferred by young people as all the recent polls reveal.

Another significant political development that will certainly influence the outcome of the upcoming elections is the recent launch of a new political party, led by former Prime Minister George Papandreou that has entered the electoral arena.

“The performance of George Papandreou’s party has not been measured yet as a political reality and therefore any estimate would be premature,” says an experienced analyst.