Election board validates incorrect seals on Istanbul ballot envelopes

ANKARA

Turkey’s electoral watchdog on June 23 ruled that the votes sealed in envelopes stamped with incorrect seals or multiple seals or in unsealed envelopes will be valid in the Istanbul mayoral rerun election.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Republican People’s Party (CHP) jointly applied to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) on June 23 to allow the ballots to be counted despite errors on the envelopes.

Some envelopes bear the seal from the parliamentary election, some lacked seals entirely, and some seals were contaminated in some districts in Istanbul.

In their request, both parties argued that the improper seals will not harm the “electorate will.”

The YSK met to consider the joint request and ruled on Election Day, June 23, in favor of counting ballots inside the flawed envelopes.

Istanbulites run to ballot boxes on June 23 to select a new mayor in rerun local elections

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on March 31 in local elections to choose mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials) and members of elder councils for the next five years.

The Istanbul mayoral election results were canceled after the AKP and its coalition partner, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), appealed to the YSK, citing irregularities and contradictions with legal measures. The decision led to the revocation of the mayoral certificate of CHP candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu.