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All set for Sunday's presidential elections

03/02/2023 14:48

We are all ready to respond successfully to the mission assigned to us by the state, said today the Chief Returning Officer, Dr. Costas Constantinou, while outlining in Nicosia the process for the presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus, to be held on Sunday.

He said that all those registered in the electoral roll have the right to vote by presenting an electoral book or identity card of the Republic of Cyprus.

The total number of persons, who have the right to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, amounts to 561,033. This number also includes 730 Turkish Cypriots, who have a permanent residence address in the free areas of the Republic. In addition, 240 enclaved persons have the right to vote.

The Nicosia Region has the largest number of registered voters, with 215,772 voters, followed by Limassol with 154,778, Larnaca with 95,518, Paphos with 51,994 and the Famagusta with 32,625. Another 10,346 chose to vote in the centers that will operate abroad.

Of the total number of registered voters, 285,004 or 50.8% are women and 276,029 or 49.2% are men. 13.8% of voters are 18 to 29 years old, 50.4% are 30 to 59 years old, and 35.8% are 60 or older.

1,148 polling centers will operate, of which 1,113 centers in 5 Electoral Regions in Cyprus and 35 centers abroad, in 25 cities, in 12 countries. The Electoral Centers that will operate in Greece are five in Athens, three in Thessaloniki, Volos, Heraklion, Ioannina, Komotini, Larissa, Patras and Rethymno. In the United Kingdom, 5 polling stations will operate in London, and one each in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. Also, polling centers will operate in Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, New York, Dubai, Luxembourg, Paris, Sofia, Stockholm and The Hague.

Voting hours are defined in the Law and are from 7 am to 6 pm, with a break of one hour between 12 and 1 pm. The voting hours of the polling centers abroad have been adjusted accordingly, so that they also close at the same time as the polling centers that will operate in the Republic. Voting hours at a polling station can only be extended if there is still a large turnout of voters.

To exercise the right to vote, the voter has to mark one of the permitted points, i.e. "x" or "+" or "√", inside the rectangle, located below the candidate's photo.

The sorting and counting of the votes will take place at the polling stations, immediately after the end of the voting. To be valid, ballots must bear the official seal of the election on the outside. Also, the ballot is considered valid when the voter marks inside the rectangle, located below the photo of the candidate of his choice, one of the points "X" or "+" or "√", or any other point similar to them, with a blue or black pen.

The elections will be held on the basis of a health protocol, which was drawn up in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. This protocol provides that persons who are positive cases of COVID-19, and are registered in the electoral roll, are exceptionally given the opportunity, on the election day to go to the polling station, to exercise their right to vote, at the same times as the rest of the population, using masks.

Masks are recommended for all voters, while people working at the polling stations are encouraged to take a self-test as well.

The ceremony of announcing the new President of the Republic is planned to take place in the closed sports hall "TASSOS PAPADOPOULOS - ELEFTHERIA", at 10 pm on Sunday evening, after the publication of the final result of the election.

The relevant preparatory work has been done, so that depending on the result, the proclamation ceremony of the new president can take place either on Sunday 5/2/2023, or after the repeat vote, on Sunday 12/2/2023.