Pre-electioneering statements kick off

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

CHP’s deputy chair Emrehan Halıc held a press conference in the parliament. AA photo

In the run-up to the local elections scheduled for March 2014, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has voiced doubt over a computer system being used by the Supreme Election Board (YSK), calling for the use of independent systems to verify the results provided by the YSK system.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in response to speculation on its candidates, meanwhile, said they have been conducting surveys to learn the levels of success of current mayors would choose candidates for upcoming local elections accordingly after systematic work.

There are doubts concerning the Computer Supported Central Voter Registry System (SEÇSİS) used by the YSK, CHP deputy chair Emrehan Halıcı said at a press conference Aug. 15.

Halıcı, an expert on computer technology-based projects, said systems within a computer environment are open to outsider intervention at every stage. Thus, in order to eliminate doubts, results provided by independent systems should be compared with those provided by the YSK, he added.

When a reporter asked about claims that Syrian refugees were being naturalized so that they could vote in the upcoming elections, Halıcı said the electorate lists they had were from April 2013 and they could check the claims only if and when they get the updated lists.

Halıcı also said they had already detected that 20,000 CHP voters were not on the updated lists even though they had voted in the previous elections.

They could only check the status of CHP voters since they needed the voters’ identity numbers to do so, he added. “There is a serious doubt that this situation may be true for our other citizens as well. This problem should definitely be corrected.”

On the ruling party front, AKP deputy chair Hüseyin Çelik, also the spokesperson for the party, told Anadolu Agency Aug. 15 that their party had been conducting various surveys regarding AKP-held municipalities and mayors from the AKP. “These survey works are aimed at understanding the situation of the current mayors for the party,” Çelik said.