Ballots of citizens who voted in elections from abroad delivered to Türkiye

A Turkish Airlines plane has delivered to the republic from other countries the ballots of Turkish citizens who voted in the elections to be held in the country on May 14, according to Yeni Safak newspaper, Report informs referring to TASS.

Bags with ballots will be stored in a safe place until the end of voting on May 14.

Documents have been delivered to the country from sites opened in Turkish diplomatic missions in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. This is more than 532,000 votes cast by citizens. During May 11, bulletins from other countries will also arrive in the republic. This cargo is accompanied by employees of the Central Election Commission, representatives of parties and diplomatic couriers.

The foreign voter turnout was reported to be around 50%. The Central Election Commission previously reported that out of 3.4 million voters registered outside Türkiye, more than 1.69 million used their right to vote. The CEC opened 156 polling stations in 75 countries. At the end of the voting procedure on the evening of May 14, the results of voting abroad will be centrally calculated and entered into a single system.

Voting abroad started on April 27 and lasted until the evening of May 9. However, voters registered outside Türkiye will be able to use their vote until May 14 if they are in the republic and vote at border points, airports, seaports, and land checkpoints.

According to the CEC, 64 million Turkish citizens will be able to take part in the May 14 elections. In total, 191,884 ballot boxes will be installed in the country and abroad. Four candidates are participating in the presidential elections, the main contenders for the highest state post are the incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

To win, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes. Local political analysts do not exclude holding presidential elections in Türkiye in two rounds. In this case, the second round will take place on May 28. The candidate with a simple majority of votes will be declared the winner.