Turkish Cypriots heads to polls today

It's voting day today as Turkish Cypriots heads to the polls to elect new parliament members. 

According to report, A total of 379 candidates from 8 parties and 9  independent candidates will be running for a seat in the 50 member TRNC Legislative Assembly while a total of 190,511 people are eligible to vote in the election.

Polling stations opened at 8am and will remain open until 6pm.

The distribution of seats according to the 6 districts is as follows;
- Lefkoşa 16,
-Gazimağusa 13,
-Girne 10,
-İskele 5,
-Güzelyurt 4 and
-Lefke 2.

The fifty members of the TRNC’s Legislative Assembly are elected by proportional representation in six multi-member constituencies with an electoral threshold of 5%.

Following the recent amendments to the election laws, voters for the first time will either be able to vote for a party, a party and list of candidates from that party or for individual candidates.

It will also be the first time voters will be able to vote for candidates from all districts as opposed to previous elections when voters could only vote for candidates from their own constituencies.

Voters choosing to vote for individual candidates will be required to vote for at least 24 members and a maximum of 50 members.

The number of votes they cast can also not exceed the number of seats in the district nor can be less than half of seats in the district.

As announced earlier by the High Electoral Council, all voters are required to present a valid form of identification, whether it be their national identity card, a passport or a driving license before being able to vote.

Voters will also not be allowed to carry cell phones bags or notes with them during the voting process.

Sale of alcohol or the bearing of fire arms will be strictly forbidden during voting hours.

Culled and edited from BRTK