Voter turnout reaches 38.6% by 3pm this afternoon

Voter turnout for the elections reached 38.6% of the registered electorate by 3 p.m. local time, Chief Returning Officer Elikkos Elia announced. This translates to 269,727 individuals casting their votes so far.

Elia noted this is an increase from the 29% turnout at the same time during the 2019 European Parliament elections, a rise of 9.6 percentage points. However, it is a decrease from the 44% turnout during the 2016 local government elections, a drop of 5.4 percentage points. The 2023 presidential elections saw a higher turnout of 55.6% at the same time.

Excluding special polling stations for Turkish Cypriot voters, overall participation reached 44.6%, compared to 32% during the 2019 European elections.

In these European Parliament elections, 4,110 out of 103,281 Turkish Cypriot voters registered in the special electoral roll have voted so far.

Elia urged all eligible voters to head to the polls by 6 p.m. local time to avoid last-minute congestion and assured that voting was proceeding smoothly with no significant complaints.

Regarding allegations of candidates sending messages to voters urging them to vote, Elia mentioned there were no formal complaints, only minor mentions of online posts made before the campaigning blackout period.

Addressing concerns about dual citizenship and potential double voting, Elia clarified that the 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.

Elia emphasized that under current legislation, a European citizen can vote only once in one country. In cases of dual citizenship, there is no system to prevent double voting. He noted that this issue concerns three to four individuals, and both votes will be counted.