Polls opened, the election process begins

At 7am the polls opened across Cyprus for the election of the six MEPs who will represent Cyprus in the European Parliament, as well as for the election of the new Local Authorities and School Board Members. A total of 698,896 people are eligible to vote. According to the Chief Returning Officer, Dr Elikkos Elias, the polls opened at 7am in all 1,847 voting centres in the Republic of Cyprus, as well as in 10 voting centres in Greece. At 9am Cyprus time, the polls will also open in Belgium and at 10am in the United Kingdom. "Voting has started successfully without any problems and will continue till 12 noon", Dr Elias noted. There will be a one-hour break and the procedure will resume at 1 p.m. All polls close at 6 p.m. In exceptional circumstances, the presiding officer may extend voting hours, up to midnight, if there is a large number of voters outside the voting centre waiting to vote, the Chief Returning Officer said. Elias invited all voters to exercise their right to vote. Source: Cyprus News Age ncy