Number of volunteer observers triples in election runoff

ISTANBUL

The number of applications to volunteer as observers in the presidential election runoff on May 28 has exceeded 200,000, tripling the figure seen two weeks ago, a volunteer organization of election monitoring has said.

Around 72,000 ballot box observers voluntarily took part in the first round on May 14, Vote and Beyond officials noted, underlining that it would not be possible for anyone to benefit at the polling booths without receiving training.

Every Turkish citizen over the age of 18 and who has the right to vote can become a ballot box observer by applying to platforms or parties, they pointed out.

The organization provides training either online or face-to-face and offers it without a need for pre-registration.

“Training includes election day flow, legal bases and peaceful behavior recommendations,” the NGO elaborated. “When the volunteers photograph the ballot results announced at the end of the day and upload them to the system, we share the data generated instantly with all political parties that request it. In fact, every voter also has the right to watch the counts.”

Vote and Beyond, a civil movement of volunteer citizens mobilized to raise and promote participative democracy in Türkiye, triggered the idea of civil election monitoring for the first time in 2013 as the initial step towards participative democracy.