1.5 mln overseas electors cast votes in presidential runoff

ANKARA

Around 1.5 million Turkish citizens living abroad have cast their votes in the presidential election runoff, causing long queues outside various foreign missions.

The election board has reinstalled ballot boxes at 167 points in 151 representative offices across 73 countries for the presidential runoff, which is slated for May 28 at home.

The voter figures are expected to surpass that of the May 14 polls, according to Recep Özel, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) representative to the Supreme Election Council (YSK).

Over 1.5 million expatriates cast their votes at representations and customs till early yesterday, only two days after the voting process started abroad.

The Turkish diaspora can cast their votes without booking an appointment until 9 p.m. today at designated election bureaus and on May 28 at border gates.

Germany, housing the most significant Turkish diaspora, also has the highest number of voters, with more than 1.5 million people eligible to vote, the YSK revealed. Turks living in Germany are able to cast votes in 26 different representative offices.

Germany is followed by France and the Netherlands, where 397,086 and 286,753 voters live, respectively.

Overseas votes could prove decisive as they could contribute up to half a percentage point in the presidential polls and potentially sway the results.

More than 1.8 million citizens cast their votes at Türkiye’s overseas representations and customs in the first round, which indicates a participation rate of 52.6 percent.