Preparations for second round in the final stretch

Preparations for the second round of the Presidential elections on Sunday are in the final stretch. On Thursday the distribution of ballots was completed and on Friday the ballot boxes will be delivered.

In statements at the Government Printing Office, Chief Returning Officer, Costas Constantinou told journalists on Thursday the distribution of ballots was completed in all electoral regions and delivered to the Overseas Returning Officers on Wednesday.

He said the Overseas Returning Officer has already delivered the ballots to the presiding employees and the ballots will reach all polling stations by Saturday.

He noted that around 90 people will staff the overseas polling stations.

Constantinou said that he had a meeting with representatives of the two candidates of the second round and explained to them the entire process that will be followed as well as the process of declaring the new President of the Republic, which will take place on Sunday at 22:00 at the Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Stadium.

All arrangements have been made for the public to attend the declaration ceremony, while two stands have been set up, one for the declaration and one for the media.

In addition, Constantinou said that the police have made the relevant operational planning so that the ceremony can take place in the safest way possible.

"Everything is going well, the police department is facilitating the media and I think everything is running according to plan and I am confident that elections on Sunday will again run smoothly and in the evening, we will proceed with the declaration," he added.

The Chief Returning Officer has called on citizens to plan and exercise their right to vote properly, noting that some disturbance was observed at some polling stations last Sunday during the closing of the polling stations at noon. For this reason, he urged voters to arrive on time at the polling stations and not to wait until the last minute.

Asked how many ballots were distributed on Thursday, Constantinou said that in total more than 600,000 have been printed to cover the 561,000 registered voters and 5% in case some ballots are destroyed.

Asked when the final results will be ready, he replied the goal is to finish with the final results by 19:30 because after that there is another process to release the final official results to make the final announcement.