Voter turnout for the elections stood at 38.6% of the total registered electorate by 15:00 (local time), according to an announcement by Chief Returning Officer Elikkos Elia. This figure translates to 269,727 individuals who have cast their votes so far. Ilia highlighted that this represented an increase compared to the same time during the 2019 European Parliament elections, when turnout was 29%, marking a 9.6 percentage point rise. However, there is a decrease when compared with the 44% turnout recorded at the same time during the 2016 local government elections, marking a drop of 5.4 percentage points. In the 2023 presidential elections, turnout at 15:00 was notably higher at 55.6%. Excluding special polling stations for Turkish Cypriot voters, overall participation reached 44.6%, compared to 32% at the same time in the 2019 European elections. Regarding the turnout of Turkish Cypriot voters in these European Parliament elections, 4,110 out of 103,281 registered in the special electoral roll have voted so far. The Chief Returning Officer urged all eligible voters to go to the polls by 18:00 (local time) to exercise their voting rights and avoid last-minute congestion. He also assured that voting was proceeding smoothly without significant complaints about the number of ballots. Responding to a question about candidates allegedly sending messages to voters urging them to vote, Ilia noted that there have been no formal complaints, aside from minor mentions of online posts made before the campaigning blackout period. Addressing concerns about dual citizenship and potential double voting, Ilia clarified that EU's intercommunication system covers only those with single citizenship, ensuring that EU citizens who have resided in another country for the last six months can only vote once. Ilia emphasized that under current legislation, a European citizen could only vote once in one country. In cases where citizens hold dual citizenship, there is no intercommunication system to prevent double voting. Therefore, as he said, no action would be taken against individuals who unknowingly or mistakenly voted in both their country of origin and Cyprus. According to information available, he said, this issue concerns three to four individuals, and both votes will be counted. Source: Cyprus News Agency
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