Election board vows efforts for safe polls

ANKARA

YSK chief Sadi Güven says there is no wrongdoing before the elections. AA photo

The chief of the Supreme Election Board (YSK) has urged both media and political parties to take pains not to create doubts about the credibility of the upcoming elections, while pledging to exert his best efforts for a healthy election.

Arrangements for the March 30 election are ready and ballots have been delivered, YSK Chief Sadi Güven told Anadolu Agency, adding that provincial and district ballot boards had checked all ballots and envelopes, a process that had been completed without any wrongdoing being detected.

Güven said the training of ballot boards would be finished by March 26, adding that representatives of the five political parties that previously received the most votes would be part of the seven-member district ballot boards.

He added that the boards would control counts of the ballot bags, envelops and ballot papers, and detail the process in an official report. They will close the ballots in the late afternoon on election day and seal the remaining ballots and envelops, before opening the ballots and counting valid and invalid votes together.

Güven stressed that the YSK would not be taking part in this ballot board process, which would entirely be the responsibility of political party representatives.

Elaborating on the claims about fake ballots, Güven said all were printed using a watermarked method in secured areas and could not be printed in other places.

The number of ballot papers printed is certain and the exact number of returned ballots will also be calculated, he added.

Number of vote cards enough

In response to claims that the YSK had printed more ballots than the total number of voters, Güven said the YSK had sent 15 percent more ballot papers than the total number that will be required at each ballot box.

Last week, reports that more than 150 million vote cards were published for some 52 million voters for the March 30 elections ignited concerns of a potential ballot fraud.