Confusion reigns as deadline approaches for voter registration in Euro elections
WITH THE deadline for registering to vote in the European parliamentary elections fast approaching, an air of confusion over inclusion and voting rights continues to prevail.
Linda Leblanc, a Peyia councillor representing the Coalition of Independents, told the Cyprus Mail, “We’ve had many complaints from European residents of Peyia who are bewildered by the registration process for voting in Cyprus.”
Leblanc was the first foreign-born woman to be elected to a town council and firmly believes in voters’ rights.
According to Leblanc there are over 4,000 registered EU non-Cypriot nationals in Cyprus who are already in possession of their voting books. But they are unaware that they have to fill in a different form for the EU parliamentary elections.
“I found out about this by accident – and I’m sure many residents are unaware of the problem. There hasn’t really been much information provided by the government,” she said.
Electoral rolls in Cyprus are updated four times a year: January 2, April 2, July 2 and October 2. The last date for registering to vote in June, is just before the quarterly electoral list update on April 2.
Leblanc added, “The whole situation is very confusing for people, and the government have now sent out letters to 4,000 EU citizens explaining what they must do, which is a wonderful step forward – but these letters are written in Greek.
“How will this be helpful?” she asked.
“The deadline is very short and people have less than a month to register. Looking at our history since we became a member of the EU, there has been very little support from the government in supplying information and campaigns. There was a very lack lustre campaign in the past on the subject of elections, and no one is aware of their voters’ rights.”
There are over 50,000 EU nationals paying social insurance in Cyprus, and Leblanc believes few are registered to vote, because they don’t know about their rights.
“It’s very sad that we are in 2009, and we’re still coming up against basic human rights issues.”
TWO ELECTORAL ROLLS
THERE IS a separate EU parliamentary electoral roll for EU citizens from other Member States.
This means that EU citizens who wish to vote in Cyprus in the June election, must submit an application, an ME1 form, to the District Office, even if they voted in the last municipal election in December 2006.
But, those who voted in Cyprus in the 2004 EU Parliament elections need not fill in an application, as they are already registered on the list for EU electors for the EU Parliament.
Greens Party leader George Perdikis has pressed the government on the matter of Cyprus ID cards no longer being required by European residents when registering to vote. A law determining this has been passed, but apparently has yet to be signed.
Patrick Conroy, a British resident in the Larnaca village of Oroklini challenged the government over their voting registration policy for EU nationals.
“I wanted to ensure that I was on the electoral role and checked about three or four years ago. My name wasn’t there and was told I had to apply.
“They asked for my Cypriot ID, and when I told them I didn’t possess one, I was asked for my birth certificate, even though I have a residence permit.”
Conroy has lived in Cyprus for the past nine years and has Cypriot residency. He had been informed by Larnaca district office that his ID number had to be fed into the computer to enable him to be registered.
He lodged a complaint with Brussels, and was sent a letter which suggested that, ‘the requirement to produce a Cypriot ID card in order to be able to register to vote in EU elections, seems to be contrary to the directive 2004/38/EC, which came into effect on April30 2006.’
He said,” I recently downloaded the ME1 form in English, and my wife and I took our passports and residents permits to the district office in Larnaca. The lady asked me for my ID card but I told her it wasn’t needed any longer. I’m pleased to say, I am now a registered voter.”
Conroy continued, “This isn’t the way to do things though. I know individuals should be entered onto the electoral roll at the time a resident’s permit is issued.
“That’s what happened when I lived in Hamburg. But at least this new move is a step in the right direction, and I hope the same rule will apply to voting in the municipal elections.”
Euro elections: the facts
The European parliamentary elections will be held from June 4–7 in the 27 member states.
EU law grants all citizens of an Member State the right to vote and stand as a candidate in European Parliament elections and local elections in the Member State in which they reside, whether they have its nationality or not. They have the same rights as nationals of their country of residence. The law aims to improve the integration of Union citizens in their host country.
For the first time In Cyprus on June 13, 2002,registered voters elected their MEPs to represent them from 2004-2009.
In the last EU parliamentary elections, 58 Cypriot candidates vied for the six seats, with DISY and AKEL winning the largest number of votes.
The six deputies were elected, and the numbers of registered voters stood at 483,311. Just over 500 voters were Turkish Cypriots and 2,054 were EU nationals. The total number who voted was 350,387, which was 72.5% of the registered voters.
Voting registration forms are available from the district offices in each town, and will be available in English online soon at the Government of Cyprus’ website.
