Today, March 31, Turkish voters vote in the country's key local elections.
The Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) earlier announced the names of 36 political parties eligible to participate in the elections.
The main ones among them are: "Party of Justice and Development" (PSD), "Party of Nationalist Action" (PND), "Republican People's Party" (RNP), "Good Party" (IYI), "Great Party of Unity" ( GPE), "Party of New Prosperity" (PNB), "Party for Unity and Democracy" (DEM), as well as "Saadet" and "Democratic Party" (DP).
The results of the local government elections in the country's three largest cities - Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir - are the most anticipated.
In Istanbul, Murat Kurum, a candidate from the ruling AKP, will compete against Ekrem Imamoglu, the current mayor from the main opposition RNP.
In Ankara, the leaders are Turgut Altinok from the ruling party and Mansur Javash from the RNP. In Izmir, Hamza Dag of AKP and Cemil Tugay of RNP are leading the race.
Over one million new voters
Of the 61,441,882 registered voters, 1,032,610 are about to turn 18, so they will be eligible to vote for the first time in more than 206,000 polling stations set up across the country.
Today, the governors of 81 provinces, 973 districts and 390 town halls, as well as 50,336 mukhtars, will be elected.
Depending on the region in which they live, citizens can elect representatives to various positions, including mayors of metropolitan municipalities, regional mayors, members of municipal councils and mukhtars. The Turkish administrative system categorizes regions into three types: villages, cities, and metropolitan municipalities, with the distinction based on population size.
The distribution of voter information documents began on February 29 and ended on March 24.
Voters can check the YSK website as well as the e-Government portal, the mobile inquiry application and the YSK call center on the special number "444 9 975" to know the location of the polling station where they are registered.
Voters must provide valid identification to vote. This can be an ID card, driver's license, etc.
Mobile phones, cameras or other communication technology will not be allowed in the voting booth. Such items may be turned over to the voting committee for safekeeping. In addition to marking their choice in the appropriate boxes on the ballot paper and making sure they leave no other traces, they must also register themselves on the commission's electoral roll after placing their ballot paper in the envelope and then in the ballot box.
Election Day Regulation
Certain restrictions and prohibitions apply to citizens on election days in Turkey. As March 31 falls on a Sunday, it is not a public holiday; however, many sites in populated areas will not operate normally.
The sale and consumption of alcohol will be prohibited throughout the day until midnight. Alcohol will not be sold or consumed in restaurants and shops. Entertainment establishments, coffee shops, tea rooms and Internet cafes will be able to offer food. No restrictions appear to be in place for shopping malls. Celebrations such as weddings, engagements and circumcision ceremonies will also be able to take place after 6pm, subject to all other restrictions. Meanwhile, on voting day, only authorized personnel responsible for maintaining public order will be allowed to carry weapons.
Until 18:00 on election day, radio stations and all types of media are prohibited from making any news, predictions or comments related to the elections and their results. From 18:00 to 21:00, only election-related news and announcements from the Supreme Election Commission (YSK) can be broadcast. After 21:00, all shows are allowed, although YSK reserves the right to adjust this time frame.
Due to seasonal conditions and the time of sunset in the month of March, the YSK moved voting hours forward by one hour in the 32 eastern provinces.
Accordingly, in Adyaman, Agra, Artvin, Bingyol, Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Elazug, Erzincan, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumyushhane, Hakkari, Kars, Malatya, Kahramanmarash, Mardin, Mush, Ordu, Rize, Siirt, Sivas, Trabzon, Tunjeli, Sanliurfa, Van, Bayburt, Batman, Sarnak, Ardahan, Ugder and Kilis, and in the places of detention in these provinces, the hours will be from 07:00 to 16:00 local time. In the remaining provinces, voting will take place from 08:00 to 17:00.
In the eastern provinces, the counting of votes cannot start before 4:00 p.m. In the rest, it can only start after 5:00 p.m. Even if all voters registered in the section have already voted, the polls will not be opened until the end of election day.
In the metropolitan municipalities, the votes for the different administrations will be counted one after the other in a certain sequence, unlike in the smaller provinces. /BGNES
