The voting process for Turkey's presidential and new parliamentary elections began Thursday abroad and at border checkpoints. This was reported by TRT TV channel.
According to the CEC's earlier decision, 156 polling stations opened in 75 countries. They are located in Turkish diplomatic missions. There are 4.6 thousand polling stations at border checkpoints, land checkpoints, airports and sea harbors. In total, more than 3.6 million citizens can vote outside of Turkey.
The voting procedure abroad and at the border checkpoints will last until May 9, after which all ballots will be counted and sent to the CEC. The polling stations will be open round the clock both for the citizens leaving and those abroad. For the first time, more than 277000 Turkish citizens will be able to vote abroad in the current elections.
As the CEC explained, voters will be given two ballots - with presidential candidates and a party list. A party ballot is a document about 20 cm wide and more than a meter long. The length is conditioned by the fact that there are 26 parties participating in the elections, and the ballot has the party name, its large logo and a place to mark the cast vote. The voter, after registering at the polling station, will be given stamps with "Yes" or "Choosing" written on them, which they will have to put in the appropriate place on the ballot. The vote will not be counted if the voter fails to mark any of the candidates, stamps parties belonging to different alliances, or in any way spoils the ballot.
According to the CEC, 64 million Turkish citizens will be able to vote in the May 14 elections. A total of 191884 ballot boxes will be installed inside and outside the country. There are four candidates for the presidential elections; the incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the opposition, are considered to be the main contenders for the highest state office. A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win. Local political analysts do not rule out holding presidential elections in Turkey in two rounds. In this case, the second round would be held on May 28. The winner will be the candidate who got a simple majority of votes.
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Based on materials from TASS