The Chief Returning Officer Dr Costas Constantinou, in the framework of his statement on voter turnout until 5:00 p.m., replied to press questions as follows:

Replying to a question on whether any issues were noted since the last update, the Chief Returning Officer replied: “No, nothing noteworthy has been observed during this time”.

“There are some small issues, as I have previously mentioned, like for example the issue of some more reports surfacing regarding phone calls, which is being investigated by the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data as the competent authority, as well as by my Office, so that it can then be handled correctly”.

Asked whether he remains optimistic that vote count will be swift and that results will be publicized quickly, Dr Constantinou replied: “We have done everything humanly possible so that the process of vote sorting and counting will be done in the shortest possible span of time”.

The Chief Returning Officer mentioned that according to the briefing he has received from the Returning Officers, “there isn’t an election centre which doesn’t have 20 votes. The number of voters in all election centres is over 20, and consequently there is no need to mix ballots. We will proceed immediately with the sorting and the counting of the votes, which will make things a lot easier”.

He also informed that “the helicopter will take off to deliver ballots from the Tilliria area, from Pyrgos Tillirias. As a result, all arrangements have been made so that the processes can run very quickly”.

“We have come across some problems with some fax machines, which were adjusted. The Department of Electrical and Mechanical Services took over and replaced some devices, and repaired some phone lines. Additional checks were performed precisely so that, to the degree that it is possible, at the time that sorting starts and results need to be sent, these can be transmitted without hindrance. You do realize, though, that we are dealing with technology, with means which can sometimes betray us. For this reason, I remain cautious. If all goes well I am certain that by 7:30 – 8:00 we will have the final results. And for sure, if the difference is not great, we will have an indication of who will be the next President of the Republic a lot sooner”, he concluded.