One in ten will not vote in euro elections

CYPRUS’ compulsory voting law seems to be no hindrance for the 11 per cent of people who have no intention of heading to the ballot-box for next Saturday’s elections to the European Parliament.

A survey conducted between 4-15 May for the European Parliament in all 27 EU member states shows that almost one-half – 48 per cent – of Cypriots said they are sure to cast their vote in the Euro-elections, while one in ten say they will abstain.

According to statistics compiled by the Interior Ministry’s Elections Service, of the 526,060 total registered voters for the June 6 elections, 518,297 are Greek Cypriots, 1,305 Turkish Cypriots, and 6,458 other EU citizens.

Other EU citizens registered to vote – amounting to 1.3 per cent of the total – come from 23 countries in all. Most are Greeks (2,912), British (1,349), Bulgarians (985) and Romanians (835). There is a big drop to the next group, made up of Poles (114), Germans (57) and Slovakians (42). Seven of the remaining countries just about make it into double figures, and the other nine stay in single figures.

Voters can use the internet or mobile phones to find out which polling station they should go to. After accessing the Interior Ministry website – www.moi.gov.cy, which is only available in Greek – one needs to click on the banner “Euro-elections 2009, Where do I vote?”, enter a registered ID number and date of birth, and then hit “search”. Alternatively, one can send a text message to 1000 containing the word “ekloges”, space, and then ID number, and then wait for the reply.

According to the Eurobarometer survey, there has been a rise in the number of EU citizens who have said they are sure to vote on June 6, but it is by no means certain that the turnout will be higher than the 45.5 per cent who voted in 2004 throughout the EU.

The same survey showed that 71 per cent of Cypriots know when the elections are due to take place.

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.