Pittokopitis elected Paphos district governor in neck-and-neck race

The battle for district governor of Paphos was decided by a margin of a mere 38 votes in favour of Charalambos Pittokopitis on Sunday night.

His rival Kostas Konstantinou and Pittokopitis went neck-and-neck for hours as votes were counted, with the difference between them in the single digits with continuous reversals.

Pittokopitis, who was supported by Akel and Diko, eventually secured the post with 17,965 votes, 41.9 per cent of the total completed count.

Konstantinou, who was endorsed by Disy, received 17,927 votes, that is, 41.8 per cent.

Marios Tselepos, who ran as an independent, secured 6,973 votes or 16.3 per cent.

A total of 64,286 registered voters had the right to vote for Paphos district governor. Of whom 49,425 (76.91 per cent) voted. There were 42,865 valid ballots (86.73 per cent), while 14,837 (23.09 per cent) abstained, 917 (1.86 per cent) invalid ballots and 5,643 (11.42 per cent) blanks.

The delay in the final count announcement for Paphos was due to a technical problem, according to the electoral official Giorgos Chrysafini.