Turkish Presidential Elections in numbers

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News website
17 Apr 2023 17:37

Head of the country's High Election Board (YSK) announces that the total number of ballot boxes inside the country amount to a total of 191,884 and another 5,040 outside the country.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reads his decision confirming the election date, in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, March 10, 2023 (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

During a press conference at the Turkish Supreme Election Commission’s HQ in Ankara, the head of the country's High Election Board (YSK), Ahmet Yener, said that the total number of registered voters expected to partake in the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections has amounted to a total of 64,113,941 votes; 60,697,843 are on Turkish mainland, and the rest are in the diaspora.

The total number of ballot boxes inside the country amount to a total of 191,884, and another 5,040 are outside the country.

In regards to the Turkish citizens who became eligible to vote (i.e. turned 18) since the last elections, Yener noted that 4,904,672 new voters will be participating in the elections for the first time (277,646 of which are in the diaspora) and 47,523 others will be participating in the elections in the event of a second round of presidential elections (2,435 of which are in the diaspora).

Also, about 133,000 voters who reside in the areas destroyed by the February earthquake have transferred their registrations to other states.

Elderly voters (those above the age of 70) amount to a total of 3,180,802 inside the country.

Presidential elections are scheduled to take place in Turkey on 14 May 2023. Voters will elect a new president for a term of five years. Kemal Kilicdaroglu is the main opposition candidate contending against Erdogan's aspiration of maintaining his position as president for another term.

Last week, a pre-election poll conducted by the Areda Survey Center, on a pool of 10,136 participants, revealed that Kemal Kilicdaroglu lags behind Erdogan by a 7.7-point margin.

Back on April 13, Turkish presidential candidate and Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu announced his political program for the first 100 days in power if he gets elected as President of Turkey.

Kilicdaroglu stated, "On May 14th, the government will change in Turkey," adding "Together we will build a prosperous, fair, and democratic Turkey where everyone gets their due, with radical innovations in every field from economy to democracy, justice to security policies."