Polls open in Türkiye for Presidential, Parliamentary elections

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Polls have opened across Türkiye on Sunday morning for the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking another term in office, while the opposition candidates are Kemal Kilicdaroglu of Nation’s Alliance and Sinan Ogan of Ata Alliance.

The Supreme Election Board (YSK) announced earlier that more than 64 million citizens are eligible to vote in the elections on 14 May, including more than 3 million voters abroad.

The polls will close at 5 PM local time, and the first results are expected to start coming in shortly after that.

Voters in Türkiye need to show their identity cards or other official identification documents at polling stations. Then, each voter is given two separate ballot papers, one for the presidential election and one for the parliamentary election. Voters mark their ballot papers in the booth and then place in envelopes.

According to the Turkish electoral body, voters are not allowed to take any photos or videos inside the booth, and they leave their mobile phone outside.

After voting ends, the ballots cast for the presidential candidates are counted first in the presence of balloting committee which consists of the members of the Turkish election body and political parties as well as citizens who wish to remain there.