Parliamentary elections have started in Cyprus: first results are expected in the evening

Parliamentary elections have begun in Cyprus. Voting will continue until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, after which ballot counting will begin. The first data on the parties that will enter the new parliament are expected as early as 9:00 p.m.

As the Chief Election Officer and head of the Ministry of the Interior, Elikos Ilias, said, votes will be counted directly at polling stations immediately after the ballot boxes close, provided there are no queues of voters left by that time.

Representatives of political parties will be present at each polling station during the count to oversee the procedure.

According to Ilias, party votes will be counted first, making it possible to determine which political forces enter parliament and how many seats they win. Preliminary party results are expected between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

After that, the count of votes cast for individual candidates will begin. The names of all 56 elected MPs are expected to be known by around 2:00 a.m. on Monday.

At the same time, some candidates who receive significantly more votes may be declared elected as early as around midnight.

The Chief Election Officer noted that the official confirmation of the results may take several more hours. According to him, the work of the electoral committees will likely continue until 3:00–4:00 a.m.

The elections are taking place amid heightened interest in the political situation on the island and expectations of changes in the composition of parliament.