Schools to be suspended day after election

ANKARA

The government has decided to suspend schools the day after the upcoming elections as they will be used as polling booths, Education Minister Mahmut Özer has announced.

“We will take a break from education the day after the election in order to prepare the schools for the next day in a healthy way,” Özer said in a televised interview.

Teachers will be considered on administrative leave on May 15, the minister added.

If any presidential hopeful fails to obtain an absolute majority in the first ballot, the election will go to the second round. The two candidates who received the most votes in the first round will race on May 28.

In Türkiye, any presidential candidate needs to pass the 50 percent vote threshold to be elected.

In the event of a possible runoff, citizens will cast their votes in the same polling stations and with the same voter information sheet.

Voters will choose between four presidential candidates —President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Homeland Party leader Muharrem İnce and Ata Alliance’s candidate Sinan Oğan.

Meanwhile, 24 political parties and 151 independent candidates are racing for seats in the 600-member parliament.