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- Ελληνικά
41% of the objections submitted against the supplementary electoral rolls of April 2, 2024 have been approved, the Director General of the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Elricos Ilias, told media representatives today. According to Dr. Ilias, a total of 3,560 objections were submitted, of which 1,461 were approved and 2,099 (59%) were rejected.
Referring to the applications submitted in the period from 3 January 2024 to 2 April 2014, he noted that a total of 25,914 applications for first registration in the electoral rolls and 20.890 applications for transfer of electoral rights due to change of address of voters.
"During the period when the electoral rolls were posted, a total of 3,560 objections were submitted, of which 559 were for the Nicosia District, 1,564 for the Limassol District, 102 for the Famagusta District, 123 for the Larnaca District, 1,212 for the Paphos District and 3 for the Kyrenia District," the Director General said. He continued, noting that all the objections were examined by the concerned Prefects.
In Nicosia District, the municipal districts with more than 50 objections are the municipal districts of Lakatameia with 176, Anthoupolis with 69 and Aglantzia with 65, while the municipalities with the most objections are Deneia with 46, Flassou with 42, Sarandi with 19, Vizakia with 16, Pachyammos with 14 and Arediou with 13. 272 of the Nicosia district's objections, or 49%, were upheld, while 287, or 51%, were rejected.
In the Limassol district, the municipal districts with more than 50 objections are Mesa Geytonia with 445, Kato Polemidion with 197, Ipsona with 110, Limassol with 89 and Agios Tychonas with 50. The municipalities for which the largest number of objections were submitted are Finis with 136, Fassoula with 46, Lofou, Zoopigi and Absiou with 43, Pissouri with 35 and Agios Georgios Sylikou with 24. 872 or 56% of the objections of Limassol were approved, while 692 or 44% were rejected.
In the Famagusta district, the only municipality with more than 50 objections is the municipal district of Ayia Napa, with 54 objections, while 44 objections were received for the municipal district of Paralimnios. A total of 48 objections or 47% of Famagusta has been approved, while 54 objections or 53% have been rejected.
For the Larnaca district, the municipal district of Tersefanou with 36 objections and the communities of Zygios and Tochni with 26 and 14 objections, respectively. Of the 123 objections submitted for the Larnaca District, 12 or 10% were upheld, while 111 objections or 90% were rejected.
From the Paphos District, the Paphos Municipality stands out with 497 objections, Pegeia with 299, Geroskipou with 62, Chloraka with 54, Konia with 28, Amargeti with 17, Neo Horio with 16 and Pentalia with 15. Of the 1,212 objections submitted for the Paphos District, 257 or 21% were upheld, while 955 or 79% were rejected.
For the Kyrenia District, 3 objections were submitted concerning the occupied Kormakitis, which were rejected in their entirety.
According to Dr. Elias, "following the completion of the objections review process, the process of updating the population record system is underway. Then the electoral rolls will be finalized and used for the upcoming elections."
He stressed that some of the incidents - which saw the light of day - were particularly serious. As he pointed out, according to the provisions of Section 103 of the Population Records Act, "any person who knowingly provides false information in connection with the compilation of the electoral roll or in any investigation conducted by the Prefect or deliberately refuses to provide any information is guilty of a criminal offence. Therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Prefects to record all cases for which a case may be made out. These will be forwarded as soon as possible to the Attorney General of the Republic for evaluation and action."
In relation to the next steps, the Director General of the Ministry of Interior said that the submission of nominations for the European elections will take place on Wednesday, 24 April 2024, at the "Filoxenia" Conference Centre, between the hours of 8:30 a.m.The submission of nominations for the Presidents of the Provincial Governments will take place on Thursday, 25 April 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, at locations designated by the respective Supervisors of Elections and published in today's edition of the Official Gazette and in the printed press. The filing of nominations for the Municipal and School Board Member Elections will take place on the same day and at the same times. The submission of nominations for the Community Elections will take place on Monday, April 29, 2024, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m, at locations designated by the respective Registrars of Voters and also published in today's edition of the Official Gazette and in the printed press.
Asked if these objections were directed by specific parties or candidates, Mr. Ilia said that there are indications that this may have been the case, however, he continued, "we are at the initial stage of investigation and I would prefer to let the police do their job in order to see who is behind these objections that have been made and the false statements and to seek the perpetrators, who I hope will be punished." The Director General noted that it is likely that the investigation will not be completed by June 9 as time is needed for documentation. He said that the Ministry of Interior will then contact the Legal Service on how to proceed.
Asked if the Ministry is gearing up to take measures and introduce safeguards to avoid this phenomenon in the future, Dr. Elias explained that, following instructions from the Minister of Interior, it will be explored how the legislation can be varied. Possibly, he said, one measure might be to use the address where one resided a year before the Elections instead of a few months as is the case now. He added that, in cooperation with the Population Registry and the Department of Information Services, some other options were being considered in order to find the most effective method of checking addresses.
Asked specifically about the large number of objections rejected in Paphos and asked what the consequences would be for false statements, Dr. Elias reiterated that the reasons why some objections were rejected would be investigated by the Police. He explained that a person who gives false information in connection with the compilation of the electoral roll is guilty of a criminal offence and, on conviction, is liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding €1,000 or both. "But in addition to this provision, we are looking at other issues, such as for example false declaration or forgery of signature."
In response to a question, the Director General pointed out that "the objections, which were approved by the Prefects, meant they had some basis to be approved and were probably false and are among those that we should be concentrating on." He conveyed the willingness of the Provincial Administrations to cooperate with the Police and provide any information and applications in order for the cases to be investigated by the Police.
Elias said the Provincial Administrations had contacted persons who applied for transfer of their electoral rights by telephone to confirm their residential address. He said that in some cases, these persons did not even know the address they had declared, which points to a false declaration. In addition, field visits were carried out by supervisors of the District Administrations. He clarified that during the investigation, the legislation allows District Administration Officers to request any information (e.g. electricity bill) in order to prove whether the address declared by a person is correct. Most of the reactions, he added, were from citizens who made false declarations.
Asked if the Prefects were sure that the objections accepted were correct, Mr. Elias replied in the affirmative, saying that the decisions were taken on the basis of the Prefects' judgment and the checks made, without ruling out the possibility that in a few cases a mistake had been made.
Asked if the number of objections is higher compared to previous years, the Director General of the Ministry of Interior answered in the affirmative, saying that there is a great interest in this Election.
Finally, answering whether there might be a calendaring due to voter movements, Mr. Elias said that it depends on the difference in the outcome of the electoral process. "If for example in a municipality we have an election with a two-vote difference, then the losing candidate has every right to investigate the matter further," he said."
He clarified that allowing an objection means that the voter will vote in the area where he or she was previously registered. In conclusion, he reminded that from the beginning of May, the online service "What I vote" will be activated, where citizens will be able to find out exactly what to vote for, and around May 10, the service "Where I vote" will be activated, through which they will be able to vote.
(MKY)
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