A record number of candidates and political parties have submitted their nomination on Wednesday for the 2026 Parliamentary Elections, according to Chief Returning Officer Elikkos Elia. Specifically, 753 candidacies and 19 parties have submitted their nominations.
‘Today, candidacies for the Parliamentary Elections, which will be held on May 24, 2026, were submitted to the Returning Officers for Members of the House of Representatives. A total of 753 candidacies were submitted, approximately 100 more than in the previous parliamentary elections. Of these, 744 are from party lists, while 9 are independent candidates,’ he said.
Elia confirmed that this is a record number both in terms of candidacies and parties. ‘The previous highest number we had was recorded in the 2021 Parliamentary Elections. At that time there were 15 parties, now we have 19, and there are 102 more candidates than in 2021.”
According to the Chief Returning Officer, 529 candidacies (70.3%) are men, while 224 candidacies (29.7%) are women.
A number of parties are running with full lists, meaning a number of candidates equal to the parliamentary seats available in each electoral district, while others are running with less candidates or only in specific districts.
Elia also said that candidacies were submitted for representatives of the religious groups, namely the Maronites, Armenians, and Latins. Specifically, two candidacies were submitted for the Maronite religious group, meaning elections will most likely be held. For the Armenian and the Latin religious groups just one candidacy was submitted for each of them. According to the Returning Officer, if no objections are filed within the next 24 hours, or after any objections are reviewed, the Armenian and Latin representatives will be officially declared elected unopposed.
All the candidacies will be finalized after any objections are submitted and decisions are made on them.
Ballot printing to begin on May 9
———–
The Returning Officer said the goal is for ballot printing to begin within 2-3 days. ‘We are in communication with the Director of the Government Printing Office, and the plan is to begin printing the ballots on May 9,’ he said.
When asked about the ballot format, Elia said several options are being discussed with the Government Printing Office. He noted that Nicosia, due to the large number of candidates and party lists, will likely use a double-sided ballot.
Regarding staffing of polling stations, he said ‘we are in the final stage of appointing presiding officers. The remaining staff for the polling stations will also be assigned. I estimate that within a few days this process will be finalized and we will have the exact polling station arrangements.’
He also reminded the public that polling stations will operate in Athens, Thessaloniki, London and Brussels.
‘On today’s occasion, which is a celebration of democracy, and as we enter the final stretch toward the Parliamentary Elections of May 24, I would like to assure you of the interest shown by the President of the Republic and the Minister of Interior in ensuring fair and transparent elections, so that the Cypriot people may decide freely and democratically who will represent them in the House of Representatives for the next five years,’ he said.