Over 5,000 new voters sign up for EP elections

The number of new voters who registered on the electoral roll by the April 2 deadline for the European Parliament elections reached 5,424, according to the election service.

The Interior Ministry’s Chief Returning Officer Demetris Demetriou told the Cyprus News Agency that 3,862 of the new voters were Greek Cypriots, 1,557 EU voters and five Turkish Cypriots living in the government-controlled areas.

Cyprus will also operate at least 13 polling stations in Greece, the UK and Belgium. Initially, the Electoral Service had planned to operate a further six more centres in Greece and the UK, however the this decision will likely be revised due to the low interest registered by voters.

In total, 6,316 Cypriots expressed an interest in voting at polling stations abroad.

The cities that did not meet the minimum number of 150 voters to warrant the setting up of a polling station abroad are Volos, Komotini Larissa and Rethymno in Greece, and Leeds and Bristol in the UK.

A bill passed by parliament last month has also opened the way for 67,000 Turkish Cypriots who do not live in the government-controlled areas to participate in the May elections.

The European Parliament elections will be held on May 25 this year, to send six MEPs to Strasbourg to represent Cyprus.

 

 

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.