Turkey sees rise in voters ahead of Nov. 1 poll

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Turkey’s early election slated for Nov. 1 has seen a considerable increase in the number of registered voters, the country’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) has revealed.

The board says that more than 54 million people are registered to vote in Turkey while almost 2.9 million people will be able to cast their votes from outside the country.

Around 53.7 million people were eligible to vote in Turkey’s June 7 general election.

The difference between two the general elections is 310,620, according to the board, while this difference is 28,227 for voters outside the country.

Turkish nationals living abroad will begin casting their votes between Oct. 8-25 at embassies, consulates and border gates.

In Turkey, the polls will open on Nov. 1, at 8 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. GMT) and close at 5 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT).

The Nov. 1 polls will take place nearly five months after an inconclusive election on June 7 saw no party win an overall majority.

Coalition talks between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the three other parliamentary parties were unable to produce a result.

Twenty-seven political parties will participate in the November election, including the four parties in parliament, the AKP, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Political parties have to submit their nominees to the board by Sep. 18 and the board will announce the list of parliamentary candidates on Sep. 28.

Turkey is divided into 85 constituencies in 81 provinces for a total of 550 MPs. The election board will print more than 75 million voting papers.