The combined cost to the taxpayer for the holding of Sunday’s local government and European parliament elections is €7 million, chief returning officer Elikkos Elia said on Friday.

He said the budget included the purchase of new equipment, which will also be used in future elections, as well as payment of a total of 12,435 government employees, police, and other workers who will work on polling days.

The estimate seems somewhat low, given the fact that the Presidential elections in 2023, which took place with fewer polling stations and ballot papers, and which took place before a year and a half worth of inflation also occurred, were allocated the same budget.

Additionally, he said he expects for the results of the European parliament elections to be announced after midnight on Sunday.

“We will be able to give percentages across Cyprus … but we will not immediately be able to announce the names of the elected MEPs,” he said, explaining that they cannot be officially announced until counting has been completed across the European Union’s 27 member states.

Moving on to the matter of the elections’ planning, he said the government is now in the “final phase of the electoral process”.

He added that Sunday’s elections are the “most complex and special elections ever held in the Republic of Cyprus.”

Breaking down the number of voters, he said A total of 1,864 polling stations will be open in Cyprus and abroad, the largest of which will be open to 683 voters, and the smallest of which will be open to just 34.

There are a total of 698,896 voters who are eligible to vote in all the elections taking place on Sunday, of whom 568,608 are Cypriot nationals. Of those Cypriot nationals, 834 are Turkish Cypriots who reside in the Republic.

Additionally, a total of 252 enclaved Greek Cypriots living in the north will be able to vote in the European parliament elections and for their village council in exile in special polling stations set up in Ayios Dhometios and Deryneia.

Exactly 26,755 citizens of other European Union member states have registered to vote in the European parliament elections only.

There are also 103,281 Turkish Cypriots who live in the north who are eligible to vote in the European parliament elections. 32 special polling stations have been set up for them in the Nicosia, Larnaca, and Famagusta districts.

At the same time, 313 prisoners who will be able to vote in a special polling station inside the prison.

Meanwhile, 4,643 voters will vote in one of the 17 polling stations which will open in 13 cities in Belgium, Greece, and the United Kingdom.

Internally displaced persons will be able to vote in a total of 397 polling stations for municipalities and village councils in exile, as well as for municipalities which now lie partly in the north.

Each polling station will be staffed by a presiding officer, two to four assistants, and a police officer.

Voters must present at the polling station either their voting booklet or their Republic of Cyprus identity card, while enclaved people can present any document belonging to the Republic of Cyprus which bears their photograph.

EU citizens must present either a voting booklet or the document with which they registered to vote, typically an identity card or a passport.

In cases where a voter has lost their voting booklet, they can apply for a replacement at their district office before 1pm on Sunday.

There are also a total of 7,280 candidates running for a total of 3,277 elected positions, those being members of the European parliament, district governors, mayors, deputy mayors, municipal councillors, mukhtars, village councillors, and school board members.

A number of those positions, including 14 deputy mayors and around 42 per cent of village officials, mukhtars and village councillors, have already been elected unopposed.

Elias also moved to remind candidates and their supporters that the putting up of billboards and posters and the depositing of leaflets and the writing of electoral slogans is prohibited both on Saturday and on Sunday.

In addition, it is illegal to publish the results of polls including exit polls on Saturday and on Sunday until the chief returning officer has announced that all polling stations across the island have closed.

“We are calling on the candidates to leave people alone and without further influence to have a quiet Saturday and Sunday to express their will at the ballot box,” he said.