Chief returning officer, Menelaos Vasiliou, told CNA that there will be a record number of candidates for next year's presidential elections.

In statements to CNA, Vasiliou said that they expect that for the February 5th 2023 presidential elections, the 2013 record number of presidential candidates - that reached 11- will be exceeded.

He noted that the budget provides for a cost of 7 million euro for this election. 

New voters, he said, can register until the 27th of December. Since October 3rd, when the electoral rolls opened for new registrations, there have been 1,882 new applications. 

Vasiliou recalled that in the corresponding quarter for the 2018 elections, 10,400 new voters were registered.

He said that after the deadline for the registrations the District Officers will publish the lists for any objections. The lists will be ready around mid-January.

The submission of candidacies is expected to take place on January 5, 2023 at the Conference Center in Nicosia and the fee will be 2,000 euro.

He said that ballots will be printed immediately after candidacies are submitted, around the 9th of January. 

Referring to the polling stations abroad, he said that until yesterday Monday, there were 1,117 expressions of interest noting that there must be 50 applications to operate a center abroad. He added that so far this number has been exceeded in Brussels, Patras, Thessaloniki, Athens and London.

In December, he continued, when the deadline for someone to submit their application ends, we will be able to know how many polling centers will operate abroad. He recalled that during the 2018 presidential elections there were 33 polling stations abroad.

As regards Cyprus, he said they are waiting for the registrations to end in order to know how many centers will operate. He estimated that there will be approximately 1,200.

He also said that on Monday a platform was opened for those wishing to declare their interest in working at the polling stations. It concerns unemployed and civil servants. The platform, he added, will be open until the 20th of December.

Replying to questions, he said that citizens of foreign countries cannot vote in the presidential elections, clarifying that European citizens only vote for the European elections and for local administration authorities.

Finally, referring to Turkish Cypriots, he said that they have to be holders of an ID of the Republic of Cyprus in order to be able to register in the permanent electoral roll and vote. They also need to have a declared address in the government-controlled areas of the Republic. So far, he said, there are 704 registered Turkish Cypriots.