Top election body refuses HDP’s appeal to cancel Nov 1 vote

ANKARA

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Turkey’s top election body has swiftly dismissed an appeal by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to cancel the Nov. 1 snap election.

The HDP appealed to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) on Nov. 15, arguing that the campaign did not take place in line with the principle of “free and equal voting” and that the interim Justice and Development Party (AKP) government led by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had operated at an unfair advantage.

After discussing the petition filed by the HDP, the YSK “unanimously” refused it, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported late Nov. 17, without further elaborating.

The YSK announced the official results of the Nov. 1 snap elections on Nov. 12. The AKP, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the HDP and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) obtained 317, 134, 59 and 40 seats, respectively. 

“The election took place against the principle of integrity and the president and the interim government thus put their signature on a major election fraud,” the HDP said in it its petition filed to the YSK.