Furore over repeat ballot in Paphos village of 20 voters

Seven of the 20 registered voters of Anadiou handed their voting booklets in protest over the decision of the chief returning officer for a repeat vote on Saturday following the tie between the two candidates running as community leaders, the Paphos district officer Mary Lambrou said on Friday.

According to Lambrou, of the 20 registered voters of Anadiou, 18 had cast their vote, nine to Maria Andronikou and nine to Savvas Hadjisavvas who were running as candidates. There was also a tie among the two independent coalitions running for the community council. Following this development, the chief returns officer called for a repeat vote on Saturday.

Objections were raised however, Lambrou said, as two of the nine who voted for Hadjisavvas who is the incumbent are now abroad on holidays while seven people handed over their voting booklets in protest, asking that the interior minister either appoints a community leader or for a re-scheduling of the repeat vote.

“This is not possible, as the decision for a repeat vote on Saturday was taken by the chief returns officer and the law provides that a repeat vote must take place the soonest possible,” Lambrou told the Cyprus News Agency.

She added that the voting booklets, that were handed over, will be at the polling station. “If anyone changes their mind they can take their voting booklet and vote,” Lambrou said.

The reactions also relate to a number of reports filed against the incumbent Hadjisavvas earlier in the year, Lambrou said, which are under investigation, but that the election procedure cannot stop.

A repeat vote is to also take place in another Paphos community, Axylou, also on Saturday, as candidates received 32 votes each.

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.