Candidates, parties, changes ahead of Turkey elections
Under new rules, presidential and parliamentary elections in country being held simultaneously
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets members of parliament from his ruling Justice and Development Party as he arrives for a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara. PHOTO: REUTERS
ANKARA:
Turks vote Sunday in presidential and parliamentary elections, which will be followed by the biggest change in Turkey's political system in over half a century.
A constitutional referendum backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in April 2017 agreed changes expanding the powers of the Turkish president, most of which will come into effect after these elections.
Under the changes, presidential and parliamentary elections are also now being held simultaneously.
These polls will also be the first time legislation changing electoral rules passed in March are used, but the opposition criticised some of the articles of the bill, warning of the risk of fraud.
Erdogan, Ince square up for heavyweight Turkey poll fight
Here are several relevant numbers, details and people to follow in the polls:
There are 56.3 million Turks who can vote on Sunday, June 24.
Nearly 181,000 ballot boxes will be in place. Polls open at 0800 (0500 GMT) and close at 1700 (1400 GMT).
Three million Turks abroad eligible to vote can do so up to June 19, depending on their country.
In these elections, Turks will vote for their choice of president and lawmaker at the same time, putting their two ballot papers in one envelope.
The president is directly elected by voters. If no candidate obtains over 50 per cent of the vote in the first round, a second round will take place on July 8.
Turkey's constitutional change to be fully implemented with Nov 2019 elections, Erdogan says
Meanwhile, lawmakers are chosen in only one round from lists prepared for each of Turkey's 81 provinces.
The seats are allocated in proportion to the number of votes the lawmaker candidate receives.
In order to favour stable majorities, only the parties which obtain at least 10 percent of the vote at a national level participate in this distribution.
After the 2017 reforms, 600 MPs will be elected on June 24, up from the previous 550.
Political parties for the first time can form alliances for the parliamentary elections. This change allows parties usually unable to get 10 percent of the vote to gain entry to parliament.
The parties are grouped together on the ballot papers according to the alliances formed, but voters place their stamp based on which party they support, not for an alliance.
'You are my voice': Kurdish leader campaigns from Turkish jail
The vote will be counted for the alliance with regards to the 10 percent threshold, then the votes will be divided between the parties depending on the number of votes obtained by each.
This law also allows ballot papers which have no official seal to be accepted as valid, a measure which was taken at the just hours after voting ended during the April 2017 referendum.
The issue caused controversy at the time and again in March, with the opposition warning of the greater risk of fraud.
The law also permits the merging of certain districts and the movement of ballot boxes from one district to another as a "security measure".
Security forces are allowed to enter polling stations in the event of a request by a citizen, an observer or an official in the case of disturbances.
They could remove the voters or observers deemed to be responsible for the trouble.
The opposition has denounced the measures as meant to intimidate certain voters or to complicate the process of voting, especially in the Kurdish-majority southeast.
There are six presidential candidates: Meral Aksener (Iyi "Good" Party), Selahattin Demirtas (Peoples' Democratic Party - HDP), Erdogan (Justice and Development Party - AKP), Muharrem Ince (Republican People's Party - CHP), Temel Karamollaoglu (Saadet "Felicity" Party) and Dogu Perincek (Vatan "Patriotic" Party).
Two alliances were formed ahead of the parliamentary polls.
The first is the People's Alliance of Erdogan's ruling AKP, the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the nationalist Great Unity Party (BBP).
The second is the National Alliance made up of the main opposition secular CHP, the right-wing Good Party, the conservative Felicity Party and the centre-right Democrat Party.
The pro-Kurdish HDP, Kurdish Islamist Huda-Par and the Patriotic Party will take part in the polls individually.
Turks vote Sunday in presidential and parliamentary elections, which will be followed by the biggest change in Turkey's political system in over half a century.
A constitutional referendum backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in April 2017 agreed changes expanding the powers of the Turkish president, most of which will come into effect after these elections.
Under the changes, presidential and parliamentary elections are also now being held simultaneously.
These polls will also be the first time legislation changing electoral rules passed in March are used, but the opposition criticised some of the articles of the bill, warning of the risk of fraud.
Erdogan, Ince square up for heavyweight Turkey poll fight
Here are several relevant numbers, details and people to follow in the polls:
There are 56.3 million Turks who can vote on Sunday, June 24.
Nearly 181,000 ballot boxes will be in place. Polls open at 0800 (0500 GMT) and close at 1700 (1400 GMT).
Three million Turks abroad eligible to vote can do so up to June 19, depending on their country.
In these elections, Turks will vote for their choice of president and lawmaker at the same time, putting their two ballot papers in one envelope.
The president is directly elected by voters. If no candidate obtains over 50 per cent of the vote in the first round, a second round will take place on July 8.
Turkey's constitutional change to be fully implemented with Nov 2019 elections, Erdogan says
Meanwhile, lawmakers are chosen in only one round from lists prepared for each of Turkey's 81 provinces.
The seats are allocated in proportion to the number of votes the lawmaker candidate receives.
In order to favour stable majorities, only the parties which obtain at least 10 percent of the vote at a national level participate in this distribution.
After the 2017 reforms, 600 MPs will be elected on June 24, up from the previous 550.
Political parties for the first time can form alliances for the parliamentary elections. This change allows parties usually unable to get 10 percent of the vote to gain entry to parliament.
The parties are grouped together on the ballot papers according to the alliances formed, but voters place their stamp based on which party they support, not for an alliance.
'You are my voice': Kurdish leader campaigns from Turkish jail
The vote will be counted for the alliance with regards to the 10 percent threshold, then the votes will be divided between the parties depending on the number of votes obtained by each.
This law also allows ballot papers which have no official seal to be accepted as valid, a measure which was taken at the just hours after voting ended during the April 2017 referendum.
The issue caused controversy at the time and again in March, with the opposition warning of the greater risk of fraud.
The law also permits the merging of certain districts and the movement of ballot boxes from one district to another as a "security measure".
Security forces are allowed to enter polling stations in the event of a request by a citizen, an observer or an official in the case of disturbances.
They could remove the voters or observers deemed to be responsible for the trouble.
The opposition has denounced the measures as meant to intimidate certain voters or to complicate the process of voting, especially in the Kurdish-majority southeast.
There are six presidential candidates: Meral Aksener (Iyi "Good" Party), Selahattin Demirtas (Peoples' Democratic Party - HDP), Erdogan (Justice and Development Party - AKP), Muharrem Ince (Republican People's Party - CHP), Temel Karamollaoglu (Saadet "Felicity" Party) and Dogu Perincek (Vatan "Patriotic" Party).
Two alliances were formed ahead of the parliamentary polls.
The first is the People's Alliance of Erdogan's ruling AKP, the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the nationalist Great Unity Party (BBP).
The second is the National Alliance made up of the main opposition secular CHP, the right-wing Good Party, the conservative Felicity Party and the centre-right Democrat Party.
The pro-Kurdish HDP, Kurdish Islamist Huda-Par and the Patriotic Party will take part in the polls individually.