Turkish Cypriots head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament

Turkish Cypriots will head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament.

The campaigning period which has been going on for a month will end at 6pm on Saturday, January, 22 a day before the election.

Voting will start at 8am on Sunday and will end at 6pm.

A total of 2,289 people will be on duty for the elections.

Through a system of split voting, voters can either vote for one party and their candidates or split their votes, choosing amongst candidates from different parties without having to support one single party.

A total of 203,792 voters are eligible to cast their votes in the 763 ballot boxes which will be set up in the six districts across the country.

Voters will be able to vote by showing their official ID, passport or driving license.

400 candidates from eight parties as well as three independents are contesting in the election.

According to the distribution of seats of the districts, voters will be electing 16 MPs from Lefkoşa, 13 MPs from Gazimağusa, 11 MPs from Girne, five from İskele, four from Güzelyurt and two from Lefke.

The seats are determined according to the population of the respective districts.

All parties are required to receive at least five per cent of the votes in order to pass the election threshold.

Meanwhile, all schools and institutions of higher education will be closed on Monday January 24 due to the fact that voting stations have been set up at schools across the country, the Ministry of National Education announced on Friday.