‘Make sure your vote is not wasted’

VOTERS in Sunday’s parliamentary elections should take a moment to examine their ballot slip to avoid inadvertently disqualifying their vote, Chief Returning Officer Lazaros Savvides warned yesterday.

All valid ballot slips should come with the official seal of the Republic of Cyprus.

Voters can vote either for a single party or else for a single independent candidate.

Those choosing to vote for a party should mark their ballot slip with a cross or a tick inside the square box at the very bottom of the party’s column.

Additionally, they can choose to also vote for individual candidates within a party by marking the box next to their name and number.

Only crosses and ticks are considered legitimate and any markings outside boxes disqualify the ballot slip.

Exceeding the number of permissible votes disqualifies the ballot slip as well.

The maximum number of votes for candidates is five for Nicosia, three for Limassol and Famagusta, two for Larnaca, and one for Paphos and Kyrenia.

This means for example that Kyrenia voters can mark the big box in the bottom of a party’s column and then if they choose, they can also place an additional vote towards a single candidate within the party.

Party leaders do not get a box because all votes towards a party imply a vote of confidence in its leader.

On Saturday and Sunday it is forbidden by law to transmit any information or news related to the elections whether directly or indirectly, Savvides said.

Violations of the law are subject to a maximum fine of €854 and/or up to six month’s imprisonment.

And do not forget to turn your mobile phones off as Savvides has warned that voters who do not might be arrested. .

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.