One in ten stayed at home

NEARLY one in ten, or 50,000 registered voters, failed to turn out at the polls yesterday and from those who did, nearly three per cent cast spoiled or blank votes.

Voting is compulsory in Cyprus. The number of abstentions was up from the 2003 presidential elections, when it stood at 9.45 per cent and blank and spoiled votes constituted over four per cent of cast ballots.

The elections went off without a hitch, with the final result out shortly after 7pm, nearly an hour ahead of schedule.

Polls opened at 7am and closed at 5pm with a one-hour break for lunch.

According to the Chief Returning Officer Lazaros Savvides, by midday a total of 48.06 per cent of people had cast their vote, compared to 48.56 at the same time during the 2003 presidential elections.

The only district with a lower percentage turnout yesterday was Paphos, probably due to the bad weather, Savvides said.

In Nicosia, a total of 49 per cent of people voted by midday, in Limassol 45.05 per cent, Famagusta 48 per cent, Larnaca 50.06 per cent and Paphos 47.06 per cent.

Savvides said there had been a constant flow of voters to polling stations and no problems had been reported.

By 3pm, around three quarters of all voters had gone to the polls.

The first results were out at around 5.20pm and with 0.5 per cent called, incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos was in the lead with 38.7 per cent followed by 30.04 per cent for Demetris Christofias and Kasoulides 29.51 per cent.

At 15 per cent Christofias had pulled ahead and Papadopouos and Kasoulides were neck and neck, but by the time 25 per cent was counted Kasoulides was in the lead with 33.7 per cent and his two rivals were neck and neck.

By the time 30 per cent of the vote was counted, Kasoulides was maintaining his lead, which he did until all of the results were in.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.