Cyprus

The president (head of state) is directly elected for a 5-year term in a two-round system. The first round is held via a single-choice vote and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the second round if no one receives a majority (more than half of the valid votes, 50%+) in the first round.

The 56 Cypriot legislative representatives are elected by direct election every 5 years. The unicameral House of Representatives would have a total of 80 members, but the 24 seats reserved for Turkish Cypriots would remain vacant. Three constitutionally recognized religious groups are reserved for non-voting seats.

The members of the House of Representatives are elected in an open-list regional proportional representation system in 6 multi-member districts. The largest district (Nicosia) is allocated 19 seats, the smallest (Kyrenia) 3. The simple quota (Hare quota) and largest remainders method is used for the distribution of seats, which would ensure a high degree of proportionality, but is primarily limited by the magnitudes of the districts themselves. The 3.6% (national) legal electoral threshold only applies to the remainder seats.

Voters may vote for one candidate on their chosen list, and with this vote they can influence the order of the party list locally.

MEPs from Cyprus are elected every 5 years (at the same time as in the other EU member states). The entire country forms one constituency, in which 6 MEPs were elected in 2024. Due to "degressive proportionality", Cypriot voters have significantly more representatives per capita than the EU average.

The main principle in the election of the Parliament (within the countries) is proportionality: by default, only a proportional system can be used, but beyond this, the member states decide for themselves what type. Cyprus, like most member states, uses an open-list proportional system. This means that voters can vote not only for a party list, but also for a candidate on the list, thus allowing them the chance to collectively change the predetermined order of the candidates. The allocation of seats between parties is done using the simple quota (Hare quota) and the largest remainder method. The legal electoral threshold is 1.8%, but in practice (due to the 6 seats) a minimum of about 7.5% is usually required to obtain a seat.

The minimum age for active suffrage (the right to vote) is 18 years, and for passive suffrage (standing for election) is 21 years. Voting is not compulsory, and voting is possible in person at diplomatic missions abroad, but there is no postal voting, online voting or proxy voting. In person voting is possible on one day (a Sunday).

This is the description of the electoral system of Cyprus as of 05.06.2026 on Electoral Knowledgebase. Sources and further information on this topic:

• https://odihr.osce.org/sites/default/files/f/documents/c/5/508379_1.pdf

• 2024 European Parliament elections: National rules (European Parliament)

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