The assessment that two hours after the polls close, they will be able to know the political parties that will enter the Parliament, as well as the number of MPs from each party, was expressed by the General Superintendent of Elections Elikkos Ilias. In statements to CNA, Mr. Ilias also said that "it is estimated that we will know who the MPs will be by name, after midnight on Sunday, around 2 a.m. on Monday."
He also said that the official announcement will take place at 12 noon on Monday, May 25th at the Nicosia Municipal Theater.
In response to a question about the preference crosses, Elikkos Ilias said that in the Nicosia district, which will elect 19 MPs, voters have a margin of up to five preference crosses. In the Limassol district, which will elect 12 MPs, voters have the right to up to three degrees of preference. In Famagusta, which will elect 11 MPs, voters can vote up to three degrees of preference. In Larnaca, which will have six MPs, voters can put up to two preference crosses. Voters in the Paphos district, where five MPs will be elected, will be able to vote up to 2 preference crosses and voters in the Kyrenia district, which will elect three MPs, have one preference cross.
Mr. Elias noted that the preference crosses are optional, explaining that the voter may not choose a specific candidate, but may choose the large box under the political party of his choice without choosing a specific candidate. At the same time, he stated that the voter has the option of choosing only individuals and not parties. He also emphasized that horizontal voting is prohibited.
When asked if anything is changing in the process, he said that the only point that is new is the double-sided ballots, which are for all provinces except the province of Larnaca, because there are fewer combinations and there are no independents. He also said that this year there is the possibility of voting by showing the voter's QR code of identity in the Digital Citizen. "There is also this possibility, if he has his identity in the Digital Citizen," he said. He noted that some party leaders also chose to enter with a preference cross and they need a preference cross to be elected.
Estimated attendance rate at 65%-68%
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When asked whether there is concern about the abstention rates, Mr. Elias said that in the 2021 elections, the abstention rate was 34,28% and expressed the assessment that a large percentage of this abstention is due to the fact that “they were not near a polling station, or were not in Cyprus”. He added that there is increased interest in this electoral process, noting that “in these elections I estimate that a percentage of around 65-68% will come to the polls”.
He noted that the announcements on the number of voters who came to the polls during the elections will be made by him from the Press and Information Office. The first update will be made shortly after 7 in the morning, at 10:10 there will be an update on who voted by 10:00, at 12:10 there will be an announcement on who voted by the break. The next update is expected at 15:10, at 17:10 and "at 18:00 it will be announced that the electoral process has been completed so that the channels can publish the exit polls," he said.
When asked whether electronic voting is being considered in future elections, the Election Commissioner said that there are security issues and malicious interference with electronic voting and therefore it is not something that is being considered. However, there is a possibility that postal voting will be implemented in the future. “Postal voting will likely be examined and studied in cooperation with the Parliament for future elections,” he noted.
Regarding the accessibility of polling stations, Mr. Elias said that they are making many efforts and there is cooperation with the paraplegic federation and we invite those who are not registered with this organization to inform us so that we can make sure that the polling station where they will vote will have an appropriate booth. We have also made announcements and information spots about this, as he said.
Source: KYPE
