Voters in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of Cyprus head to the polls Sunday for the first round of leadership elections, with two main contenders—incumbent Ersin Tatar and opposition leader Tufan Erhürman—vying for the top post amid a deeply polarised political climate.
Polling stations open at 8 a.m. and will close at 6 p.m. local time. For the first time, vote counting will be conducted electronically, with results expected within two hours of polls closing.
In addition to Tatar and Erhürman, five independent candidates are also in the running. More than 218,000 people are eligible to vote, the majority of whom are Turkish settlers.
To win outright, a candidate must secure more than 50% of the vote. If no one achieves that threshold, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held next Sunday.
