Ballot papers on their way to overseas polling stations

Preparations were underway on Tuesday to deliver ballot papers to overseas polling stations for the second round of the 2023 presidential elections.

Government printing office director Petros Xenophotos was told on Monday evening by chief returning officer Costas Constantinou to begin the process.

Samples were being examined and numbers carefully cross-checked to prevent any possible error, Xenophotos said.

The printing office director will present a sample ballot at the government printing office on Tuesday and begin the first handover of ballots to the overseas returning officer.

Overseas returning officer Kyriacos Kouros said the transport of the papers will start from Wednesday.

He said there are 10,346 registered voters overseas and the printed ballots over 11,000.

The second round of the presidential elections will take place on February 12.

Voters can choose between Nikos Christodoulides, who came first in the first round on Sunday, with 32 per cent of the vote, supported by Diko, Edek, and Dipa, and independent candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis, who won 29.6 per cent of the vote and was supported by the left-wing party Akel.