The Repeat Presidential election process for the election of the next President of the Republic of Cyprus, between the successful candidates of the first round, Mr Andreas Mavroyiannis and Mr Nikos Christodoulides, commenced normally at 7:00 in the morning, without any significant problems.

561,273 persons, who are registered in the electoral list, have the right to vote.

All ballot boxes, in all 1,113 polling stations, which are located in the Republic of Cyprus, as well as in the 15 polling stations in Greece and the polling station in Bulgaria, were opened.

Later, the ballot boxes in the remaining 20 polling stations abroad will open as well.

Specifically, at 9:00 a.m. Cyprus time, the ballot box in the United Arab Emirates is expected to be opened, the ballot boxes in the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg are expected to be opened at 10:00 a.m., while the ballot box in the USA is expected to be opened at 2:00 p.m..

Today, on this significant day for Democracy and popular verdict, a total of 8.046 employees and Police officers are working, so that the electoral process can be completed smoothly, ensuring the secrecy of the vote and the integrity of the elections.

Specifically, 5.396 employees are working at the local polling stations, as presiding officers and assistants, while 635 employees will work on registration, verification and publication of the results. In addition, 2.105 police officers are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order.

The voting process will continue until 12 noon. After a one-hour interval, voting will recommence at 1:00 p.m. and will end at 6:00 p.m., at which time the ballot boxes will close at all the polling stations both in Cyprus and abroad.

It is noted that, only in exceptional cases, the presiding officer of a polling station may extend the voting hours, if, at the expected time of closure of the voting, a large number of voters are still waiting outside to cast their vote.

As Chief Returning Officer, I will be at the disposal of the citizens to update on the developments of the electoral process, both during scheduled hours or even exceptionally, in case something occurs.

The next scheduled update will be at 10:15 a.m. to announce statistics on voter turnout until 10.00 a.m.

Finally, I call upon all of our fellow citizens, who are registered in the electoral list, to come to the polling stations on time, to exercise their right to vote, and make their choice in a responsible manner.

I wish you all a good vote.