Cypriots go to the polls on Sunday to elect the 56 members of the new House of Representatives, who will serve a five-year term. This is the tenth parliamentary poll since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960.

In an interview with CNA, Head of the Election Service Demetris Demetriou said that the final results are expected to be announced by 2200 local time (1900 GMT), with regard to the share of the vote each political party or coalition of parties or independent candidates secure. The number of parliamentary seats per electoral district, as allocated in the first distribution of seats, is also expected to be announced before midnight Sunday.

The counting of votes will take place at the polling stations as soon as voting is completed. The first results are expected to come from Paphos where there are 30 small polling stations, each with around 40 voters.

According to Demetriou, a total of 531,136 persons will vote in Sunday's elections, namely 191,517 for Nicosia Electoral District, 109,294 for Limassol, 107,913 for Famagusta, 53,598 for Larnaca, 40,534 for Paphos and 28,280 for Kyrenia. Nicosia elects 20 MPs, Limassol 12, Famagusta 11, Larnaca 6, Paphos 4 and Kyrenia 3.
A total of 1,203 polling stations will be set up throughout the government controlled areas, 458 in Nicosia district, 352 in Limassol, in the south, 54 in Famagusta, on the east, 193 in Larnaca and 129 in Paphos (on the western coast).

Demetriou added that a further two separate polling stations will be set up for the enclaved persons (Greek Cypriots still living in the country’s northern Turkish occupied areas) and 17 for the election of the Representatives of the three religious groups which are represented to the House, Latins, Armenians and Maronites.

A total of 326 enclaved persons are entitled to vote, 89 in Kyrenia district and 237 in Famagusta district.

Over 9,000 Cypriot citizens (to be exact 9.311) will vote at the 17 polling stations to be set up abroad for the parliamentary elections in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra, London and Manchester.

According to an official press release, 2.978 Cypriots have registered to vote in Athens (936 for Nicosia electoral district, 170 for Kyrenia, 659 for Famagusta, 280 for Larnaka, 594 for Limassol and 339 for Paphos).

Moreover, 2.662 Cypriots will vote in Thessaloniki (757 for Nicosia electoral district, 122 for Kyrenia, 637 for Famagusta, 274 for Larnaka, 573 for Limassol and 299 for Paphos).

Also 548 Cypriots will vote in Patra (131 for Nicosia electoral district, 36 for Kerynia, 126 for Famagusta, 54 for Larnaka, 141 for Limassol and 60 for Paphos) and 2.245 Cypriots will vote in London (776 for Nicosia, 93 for Kerynia, 445 for Famagusta, 311 for Larnaka, 487 for Limassol and 131 for Paphos).

Finally, 878 Cypriots will vote at the polling station in Manchester (268 for Nicosia district, 43 for Kerynia, 133 for Famagusta, 125 for Larnaka, 208 for Limassol and 103 for Paphos).

According to the 1960 Constitution, the Greek Cypriot community, comprising Greek Cypriots, Latins, Armenians and Maronites, elects its own representatives to the House and the Turkish Cypriot community its own deputies. The Turkish Cypriots withdrew unilaterally from the parliament in 1964 as part of their rebellion against the government.

A total of 544 Turkish Cypriots living in the free areas of the Republic have been registered to vote in Sunday's elections.

The polls will open at 07:00 local time and will close at 18:30 with a one-hour break from 12:00 to 13:00.

The ballot paper for Nicosia is white, for Famagusta light blue, for Limassol yellow, green for Paphos, rose for Larnaca and cerise for Kyrenia.

Voters can vote five candidates of their preference in Nicosia, three for Limassol and Famagusta, two for Larnaca and one for Paphos and Kyrenia.

The cost of the 2011 parliamentary elections is estimated at 5.5 million euros.

Demetriou expressed hope that abstention levels will be low. In the parliamentary elections of 2006, 11% of the voters did not vote.

Concerning a ten-member delegation of OSCE observers which is currently in Cyprus in view of the parliamentary elections on Sunday, Demetriou explained that OSCE observer missions in countries where there are problems in election processes consist of 40-50 or even 300 people and they stay up to two months to monitor the whole process.

This is the first time OSCE observers are in Cyprus for elections.

The mission will remain in Cyprus until May 27 and comprises observers from Slovenia, Latvia, Germany, Canada, Ireland, France and Kazakhstan.

They are interested mainly in information about the percentage of women candidates and the exposure parliamentary candidates have in the mass media.

Parliamentary elections take place every five years, for the 56 seat House.

Six political parties were represented to the House of Representatives which has dissolved: the leftwing AKEL the rightwing Democratic Rally, the Democratic Party, the Social Democrats Movement EDEK, the European Party and the Ecologists with 1,95%.

There are 56 elected deputies, 21 of them in the Nicosia District, 12 in Limassol District, 11 in Famagusta District, 5 in Larnaca District, 4 in Paphos District and 3 in the Kyrenia District.