Over 55 mln dropped votes in nearly 200,000 ballot boxes

ISTANBUL

Over 55 million people on May 14 dropped their votes in more than 190,000 ballot boxes set up across the country for the elections.

The number of voters imprisoned and convicted of negligent crimes was over 50,000.

Though the voting process ended at 5 p.m., citizens waiting to cast ballots at polling booths during the deadline voted in turns under the supervision of attendants.

Voters were able to cast ballots with any identity document belonging to them and were not compelled to bring voter information sheets.

Voters were asked to carry any one of their identity documents to polling stations to cast votes.

They were forbidden to enter the voting place with video recorders or communication devices such as mobile phones, cameras, or film cameras, which were left to the respective ballot box committees to be returned after voting.

“From the early hours of the morning, we made an assessment with our friends, affiliated provinces, police departments and gendarmerie commanders regarding the voting process,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu told reporters after voting with his wife, Hamdiye Soylu, in Istanbul’s Gaziosmanpaşa district.

Over 600,00 security guards, police, gendarmerie and Coast Guard officers were on duty, Soylu said, adding that 79 helicopters and eight aircraft were also deployed to polling booths.

The minister also pointed out that precautions were taken days before for all the equipment of schools, including generators, cameras and lighting.

Meanwhile, concrete plaster pieces fell from the ceiling of a classroom at a school in Istanbul’s Ümraniye district, injuring two observers. The injured were taken to the hospital.

A total of 13 citizens living in the Fatih district’s Tahtakale neighborhood came to Mimar Sinan Primary School early in the morning to cast their votes. The number of voters in the neighborhood reached 21 with the officials at the polling booth.

Citizens in the northeastern province of Artvin’s Yusufeli district, displaced after the area was flooded by a nearby dam, have cast their votes in 115 ballot boxes established for the first time in their new settlements.

In the meantime, some parties informed the Supreme Election Council (YSK) that the ink stain of the seals stamped on the back of some presidential ballot papers smeared on the front, confusing the voters.

Envelopes with the YSK watermark and emblem and the seal of the district election board will be considered valid, although they do not have the seal of the ballot box committee, reads law numbered 298, which the YSK referred to in its decision issued after the examinations.

The envelopes with stains or scratches on them will be deemed valid if it is understood that these were not made to put a special mark, the law says.