Approximately 6,500 people will be working to conduct the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Assistant General Election Commissioner, Menelaos Vassiliou, told CNA on Tuesday, adding that the total cost of conducting the elections will reach 6 million euros.

Specifically, according to Mr. Vassiliou, approximately 5,300 employees and 1,200 police officers will be working to conduct the upcoming parliamentary elections. As he stated, exact figures will be provided next week during the official press conference to be held by the Chief Electoral Officer.

Regarding the compensation for those working at polling stations, he said that the amount of 617 euros is allocated for presiding officials and 316 euros for assistants, while the total cost of the elections will amount to approximately 6 million euros.

When asked whether the unemployed are included among those who will work during the elections, the Assistant General Election Commissioner said that all unemployed individuals who have registered with the Department of Labor will be utilized. “Priority is always given to the unemployed, and we have secured approval from the Ministry of Labor to pay the full amount without any deductions,” he noted in this regard.

Specifically, according to Mr. Vassiliou, there were 16,103 applications for election-related work, of which 9,196 were from civil servants, 6,614 from entities outside the state payroll, while 293 were applications from unemployed graduates, all of whom, as he reiterated, will be utilized.

Regarding the number of polling stations, he said that 1,204 polling stations will be open during the parliamentary elections, 13 of which will be located at four sites abroad, while an additional 13 polling stations will be open for the election of the Representative of the Maronite Religious Community.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the total number of registered voters stands at 568,587, including 859 Turkish Cypriots who hold Republic of Cyprus identity cards and have addresses in the free areas, while 595 enclaved voters (335 from the Kyrenia Electoral District and 260 from the Famagusta Electoral District) are also eligible to vote but are not included in the above figures.

Approximately 600 voters will be assigned to each polling station to cast their ballots; however, depending on the geographical distribution of voters, a slight increase in this number may be required in some cases. The polling stations will be staffed by one presiding officer and two to four assistant officers, depending on the number of voters assigned to them.

Source: CNA