LEFKOSIA – [GNUSA, CNA]
With just days to go before the parliamentary elections on May 24, political tensions are rising. At the same time officials confirm that 568,587 registered voters will be eligible to cast their ballots across the island.
According to the Chief Returning Officer, a total of 1,217 polling stations will operate nationwide, covering all electoral districts. Out of them, 446 in Nicosia, 349 in Limassol, 203 in Larnaca, 135 in Paphos, 59 in Famagusta and 13 abroad, in Athens, Thessaloniki, London and Brussels.
He also said that there will be 12 polling stations for the election of representatives of the Maronite religious group and recalled that on May 10 they declared the representatives of the other two religious groups, the Latins (Antonella Lydia Mantovani) and the Armenians (Vartkes Mahtesian), and that elections will only take place for the Maronite religious group with Marios Mavridis and Petros Nakouzis contesting the seat.
The largest share of voters is in Nicosia with 198,553, followed by Limassol (116,924), Famagusta (116,392), Larnaca (60,489), Paphos (47,384), and Kyrenia (28,845).
Authorities have also activated the “Where Do I Vote” service, allowing citizens to locate their polling station through a website, SMS service, or a telephone hotline. Officials emphasized that the publication of opinion polls will be prohibited seven days before the election, meaning any new surveys must be released by midnight on May 16, 2026.
In the meantime, according to Chief Returning Officer, 753 candidacies, approximately 100 more than in the previous parliamentary elections, and 19 parties have submitted their nominations. Of these, 744 are from party lists, while 9 are independent candidates
Elia confirmed that this is a record number both in terms of candidacies and parties. “The previous highest number we had was recorded in the 2021 Parliamentary Elections. At that time there were 15 parties, now we have 19, and there are 102 more candidates than in 2021″.
According to the Chief Returning Officer, 529 candidacies (70.3%) are men, while 224 candidacies (29.7%) are women.
A number of parties are running with full lists, meaning a number of candidates equal to the parliamentary seats available in each electoral district, while others are running with less candidates or only in specific districts.
Elia also said that candidacies were submitted for representatives of the religious groups, namely the Maronites, Armenians, and Latins. Specifically, two candidacies were submitted for the Maronite religious group, meaning elections will most likely be held. For the Armenian and the Latin religious groups just one candidacy was submitted for each of them.
