CYPRIOT and EU residents go to the polls tomorrow to elect six candidates from a choice of forty seven that will serve as representatives of the island in the European Parliament for the next five years.
After a month of campaigning, political caterwauling and troubled murmurings in Brussels about the possibility of an even worse turnout than 2004, all preparations are now in place for the politically-conscious citizens of Europe to come together and elect the 736 MEPs that will be expected to promote and serve their interests in the amphitheatres, corridors and backrooms of Brussels and Strasbourg.
There are around 375 million eligible voters in the 27 member states, meaning the elections can potentially be the second largest exercise of democracy in the world, after India.
In 2004, turnout across Europe was just 45.3 per cent, while Cyprus had the second highest figure of the bloc, behind Malta at 72.5 per cent. Cyprus’ reputation as a hot-bed of political passion, and perhaps the habit of obediently shuffling, law-bound to the polls every general election, has provided local officials and candidates good reason to be optimistic that people will turn out in strength to exercise their democratic right, regardless of the fact that the usual, compulsory voting rules do not apply.
In Cyprus, a total of 1,092 voting centres will be operating island-wide, while an additional 34 voting centres catering to the 9,628 Cypriots living abroad will also be in operation.
A total of 526,060 residents and/or citizens of the Republic of Cyprus are eligible to vote in this year’s election, which is an increase of 9 per cent on 2004’s figure. Voting will commence at 6 am tomorrow until noon when there will be a break at all polling stations until 1pm. It will then resume until centres close at 8pm, with exit poll results expected to follow immediately.
In a statement issued to members of the press, Chief Returning Officer Lazaros Savvides yesterday outlined how of the 412 voting centres in Nicosia, a special centre at the Kykko A’ Lyceum in Engomi has been designated for the exclusive use of members of the enclaved community of occupied Rizokarpaso, while another special centre will also be set up for the use of prisoners at the central prisons of Nicosia.” Turkish Cypriot voters, of which 1,305 are registered to vote, will cast their ballots at 5 centres across the free territories of the island, while the 6458 foreign voters from 23 EU member states who are registered to take part will vote at centres across the island. The most significant amounts of voters are from Greece with 2,912, the UK with 1,349, Bulgaria with 985 and Romania with 835, while the total group of voters registered to take part in the elections in Cyprus derive from all European countries except Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia
While results should be determined by the Election Commission here in Cyprus by 11 pm on Saturday, they will not be released until 11 pm Sunday. This is due to a rule outlined by the European Commission, which states that official results cannot be released until all voting stations across Europe have officially closed, for reasons of influence and distraction.
Savvides said: “All billboards and political advertisements around the island should have been taken down by midnight on Thursday”. This follows election officials’ traditional aspiration to allow citizens a window of time to mull over their choices and decide for themselves which way to vote, without the assistance of party slogans, smiling candidates and opinion polls.
Voters in the Republic of Ireland and the Czech Republic will cast their ballots today, while Cyprus, Italy, Malta and Latvia will all vote tomorrow. Sunday will witness the remaining three quarters of European voters heading to the polls.
