A total of 1,250 election centres will operate for the Republic of Cyprus parliamentary elections on May 21: 60 higher than in the previous elections owing to the increase in the population.
Except for European Parliament elections, voting is compulsory in Cyprus for citizens over the age of 18 and Cyprus therefore enjoys high voter participation in elections.
However, there are worries that younger voters will not bother. Interior Minister Andreas Christou appealed to Cypriots to exercise their right to vote.
Christou said samples of the voting papers are already being printed, adding that “this time we might have the biggest voting paper ever in Parliamentary elections if more political combinations or isolated candidacies come forward”.
Almost all voting booklets (a record of voter participation in each election) are ready and voters will be asked to collect them at the beginning of next week.
Those who have lost their voting booklets or whose booklets have been destroyed can apply until 13:00 on 20 May to have them replaced, while those who need additional papers attached to their booklets can apply even on the day of the elections.
The first official results for political parties will be known around 21:00 local time while the result of individual candidates will be known after midnight.
A total of 270 of the Turkish Cypriots numbering around 12,000 who live in the south have been registered to vote, the first time that Turkish Cypriots will have voted since 1964.
Leaflets with instructions in Turkish, one of the Republic’s official languages, will be issued and translations of ballot papers will be posted at voting centres.
One Turkish Cypriot residing in the south will also be standing in the election on a United Democrats (EDI) ticket.
Turkish Cypriots living in the north, over which the government has no effective control, have not been allowed to vote.
A group of 78 Turkish Cypriots living in the north applied to vote in the election and stand as candidates but they were refused, on the grounds that they are living in the area occupied by Turkish troops and that the Cyprus problem had not been solved. The group is expected to take its case to the European Court of Human Rights for a ruling.
