{"id":7182,"date":"2024-04-07T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T04:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182"},"modified":"2024-04-07T07:00:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T04:00:17","slug":"june-elections-are-uncharted-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182","title":{"rendered":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Officials are bracing for the logistical nightmare of the upcoming local and European elections, featuring a smorgasbord of as many as 20,000 candidates vying for the 3,500 public offices<\/strong> up for grabs. It has never been done before, and once it\u2019s all over it will usher in the new system of local administration.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The June 9 elections are being held for members of the European Parliament and local authorities, which covers mayors, deputy mayors, municipal council members, community leaders, community council members, presidents of district self-government organisations and school board members.
\nIn a way, it\u2019s eight different elections in one go.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s uncharted territory, we\u2019re all learning along the way,\u201d concedes Menelaos Vasiliou, the chief returning officer. \u201cAnd even though we\u2019ve prepared for months, for sure the challenge is keeping us alert.\u201d
\nThe official tells the Sunday Mail that around 10,000 workers will be needed to staff the polling stations across the island. They\u2019re calling on civil servants and persons registered as unemployed to apply for a spot; apparently the pay for the day\u2019s work is quite good. Applications may be filed by April 11.
\nAuthorities will need all the help they can get. In prior elections, 600 voters had been assigned to a polling station. But because of the complexity of the voting mechanics \u2013 more on that later \u2013 this time around each polling station will have 400 to 450 voters assigned to it<\/strong>. Automatically that means setting up more stations, more ballot boxes, more equipment and more personnel.
\nEligible to vote are all citizens of the Republic aged 18 and over, who have their habitual residence in Cyprus, as well as European citizens residing in Cyprus, who are also registered in the relevant electoral rolls.
\nFor urban areas headed by a mayor, voters may have to fill out up to six ballots \u2013 for MEP, mayor, deputy mayor, municipal councilors, the presidents of the district self-government organisation, and the school board members.
\nIn rural communities, four ballots will be handed out. For the so-called \u2018occupied\u2019 municipalities, there will be three ballots.
\nThat makes for three different types of polling stations. And the ballots will be colour-coded.<\/strong>
\nThen you have the polling stations overseas. According to the permanent secretary at the interior ministry, Elikkos Elia, such stations will operate at the following locations: Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra, Komotini, Volos, Heraclion, Ioannina; and London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Brussels.
\nElia said 25,914 individuals have applied to vote for the first time. This includes 12,868 Cypriot citizens. In total, 103 applications were filed by Turkish Cypriots.
\nRegarding the special electoral roll for non-Cypriot EU nationals voting for local government, 10,146 applications have been filed. In addition, 2,900 applications by EU nationals wanting to vote for MEPs.
\nAs for the hopefuls \u2013 all 3,500 of them \u2013 they will submit their candidacy on April 24 for MEP, followed by the filing of candidacies for local government elections on 25 and 29 April.
\nDespite the complexity, Vasiliou is cautiously optimistic the process will go smoothly<\/strong>. He said they\u2019ve run simulations on how long it would take for someone to fill out up to six ballots \u2013 about four to five minutes.
\nOfficials even tested the ballot boxes to see if they could fit all the pieces of paper. Theoretically, in places where each voter gets six ballots, up to 2,500 ballots may be dropped in the box. The good news is that they all fit \u2013 so one less headache.
\nMeanwhile instructions have been issued to election officers to give priority to the counting and sorting of ballots for MEP candidates.
\nVasiliou estimates the final results for the European Parliament vote will be announced by midnight on June 9, or in the early morning hours of June 10.<\/strong> The final tallies for the local government public offices should come out on June 10 as well. Obviously, there will be constant updates after the polls close. Results will be posted on elections.gov.cy in three languages \u2013 English, Greek, and Turkish.
\nThe formal declaration of the MEP winners will take place on June 10 in Nicosia, at the international conference centre as usual. The winners of local government elections will be declared on Tuesday, at designated venues in each district.
\nAnd the budget for the entire undertaking comes to \u20ac6.65 million.
\nVasiliou understands that the intricacy of the process will have many people confused. So either on May 1 or May 2 authorities will launch the \u2018What I Vote For\u2019 app \u2013 letting folks know what public offices they will vote for, depending on where they live. The app will get rolled out only once the list of candidates is finalised.
\nNext, ten days later, the \u2018Where I Vote\u2019 app will be made available to the public.
\nBut if election officials are keeping their fingers crossed, imagine what the average engaged voter must be thinking.
\nAs political commentator Christoforos Christoforou points out, in Nicosia for instance there will be about ten political groupings to choose from. And that\u2019s on top of dealing with the multiple ballots.
\n\u201cSo, let\u2019s say someone wants to vote for [Constantinos] Yiorkadjis\u2026OK but what office is he running for?\u201d
\nHe adds: \u201cThere are just too many public offices in contention. People grumble, for example, that voting for deputy mayor makes little sense.\u201d
\nUp until now, deputy mayors were not elected directly by the people, but internally by municipal councilors<\/strong>. Incidentally, deputy mayors did not previously draw a salary, just an allowance for attending meetings. Now, under the new system, they will receive a full salary.
\nSpeaking of, about 90 deputy mayors will get elected. Yes 90. If you happen to inhabit the newly-designated Municipality of Polis \u2013 a conglomeration of the surrounding villages \u2013 you\u2019ll have to make your mark for about a dozen deputy mayors.
\n\u201cIf the public offices are 3,500, then maybe as many as 20,000 people will stand as candidates. It\u2019s almost like everyone and their mother will run for office,\u201d jokes Christoforou.
\nThe analyst says the sheer complexity will likely lead to errors.
\n\u201cIn addition to counting the ballots, they also need sorting. So you\u2019re going to have separate stacks for the various public offices.\u201d
\nMunicipal elections were last held back in December 2016<\/strong>. Although next set to take place in December 2021, they were deferred to 2024 due to the new system of local government coming in.
\nOfficials say they hope June 9 will be \u201ca celebration of democracy.\u201d
\nChristoforou remains skeptical. Given the traditional low turnout for both European Parliament and local government elections, he says, \u201cturnout this year might be even lower because of the more complicated process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fact: There will be as many as 20,000 candidates vying for the 3,500 public offices in the upcoming local and European elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1521,3323,2236,209,2510,1766,4422,3064,766,2536,2460,2542,3139,3,1810,1167,1600,153,1380,5332,379,3031,1213,250,3330,415,4407,3032,187,4564,3940,148,2177,5367,2779,5366,450,4086,2257,3827,2179,3331,406,4593,5330,4941,1799,673,1892,1267,5368,4942,433,618,649,380,3364,1774,1379,2343,5082],"class_list":["post-7182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-1521","tag-athens","tag-ballot-boxes","tag-box","tag-brussels","tag-budget","tag-candidates","tag-celebration","tag-civil-servants","tag-communities","tag-community","tag-conference","tag-cypriots","tag-cyprus","tag-democracy","tag-draw","tag-election","tag-elections","tag-electoral-roll","tag-errors","tag-eu","tag-european-elections","tag-european-parliament","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-government","tag-hope","tag-interior-ministry","tag-international","tag-june-elections","tag-leaders","tag-local","tag-local-administration","tag-local-and-european-elections","tag-local-government","tag-logistical-nightmare","tag-london","tag-mayor","tag-meetings","tag-municipal-elections","tag-municipalities","tag-news","tag-nicosia","tag-office","tag-officers","tag-organisation","tag-parliament","tag-polis","tag-polling-stations","tag-presidents","tag-public-offices","tag-residence","tag-school","tag-top","tag-turkish-cypriots","tag-us","tag-villages","tag-vote","tag-voters","tag-voting","tag-winners"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nJune elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"elections. logistical nightmare, local and European elections, public offices\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"elections. logistical nightmare, local and European elections, public offices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-07T04:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"headline\":\"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-07T04:00:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182\"},\"wordCount\":1080,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"000\",\"athens\",\"ballot boxes\",\"box\",\"Brussels\",\"budget\",\"candidates\",\"celebration\",\"Civil servants\",\"communities\",\"community\",\"conference\",\"cypriots\",\"Cyprus\",\"Democracy\",\"draw\",\"election\",\"elections\",\"electoral roll\",\"errors\",\"eu\",\"European elections\",\"european parliament\",\"Google\",\"Google News\",\"government\",\"hope\",\"INterior Ministry\",\"International\",\"June elections\",\"leaders\",\"Local\",\"local administration\",\"local and European elections\",\"local government\",\"logistical nightmare\",\"London\",\"Mayor\",\"meetings\",\"municipal elections\",\"municipalities\",\"news\",\"Nicosia\",\"Office\",\"officers\",\"organisation\",\"parliament\",\"Polis\",\"polling stations\",\"presidents\",\"public offices\",\"residence\",\"school\",\"top\",\"Turkish Cypriots\",\"US\",\"villages\",\"vote\",\"voters\",\"voting\",\"winners\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyprus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182\",\"name\":\"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-07T04:00:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"description\":\"elections. logistical nightmare, local and European elections, public offices\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7182#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ch.jfdi.cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\",\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cyprus-mail.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019","description":"elections. logistical nightmare, local and European elections, public offices","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019","og_description":"elections. logistical nightmare, local and European elections, public offices","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-04-07T04:00:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cyprus Mail","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cyprus Mail","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182"},"author":{"name":"Cyprus Mail","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"headline":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019","datePublished":"2024-04-07T04:00:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182"},"wordCount":1080,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg","keywords":["000","athens","ballot boxes","box","Brussels","budget","candidates","celebration","Civil servants","communities","community","conference","cypriots","Cyprus","Democracy","draw","election","elections","electoral roll","errors","eu","European elections","european parliament","Google","Google News","government","hope","INterior Ministry","International","June elections","leaders","Local","local administration","local and European elections","local government","logistical nightmare","London","Mayor","meetings","municipal elections","municipalities","news","Nicosia","Office","officers","organisation","parliament","Polis","polling stations","presidents","public offices","residence","school","top","Turkish Cypriots","US","villages","vote","voters","voting","winners"],"articleSection":["Cyprus"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182","name":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-07T04:00:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"description":"elections. logistical nightmare, local and European elections, public offices","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/june-elections-are-uncharted-territory.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7182#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"June elections are , \u2018uncharted territory\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8","name":"Cyprus Mail","sameAs":["https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}