Polling stations are closed in Türkiye. Nearly 61 million Turks were able to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections until 4pm Dutch time. Many security forces are active, according to state media at least 600,000 soldiers have been deployed.
According to the electoral law, the first reports and forecasts of the election results can only be made public after 17:00 (Dutch time). Initially only information from the electoral board, from 20:00 our time it is allowed to report freely. This can also provide an early indication of who won the election.
Polls predict that 74-year-old opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has a serious chance of beating 69-year-old incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It would be the first time in twenty years that Erdogan has to lose.
The earthquake area cannot always vote
Votes were also cast in areas of Turkey that were hit hard by the February earthquakes. The earthquakes have killed more than 50,000 people and displaced millions of Turks. However, Turks have to vote in the area where they are registered. For this reason, many people return to the earthquake zone on Sunday.
Only about 300,000 people have registered in another constituency, says Senate member Farah Karimi (GroenLinks) in conversation with the PA. Karimi leads the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly International Election Observation Mission during elections.
Impossible
According to her, the Turkish government has made almost no facilities available to help displaced Turks vote. “Indeed, it is therefore impossible for hundreds of thousands of people to exercise their right to vote,” says Karimi.
In some places, political parties, municipalities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) still help voters cast their votes. An initiative by Oy ve Otesi, an NGO that promotes democratic participation, has provided 30,000 free bus tickets to voters since the end of April to return to the earthquake-stricken area for elections.
Source: BNR
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