Voters with phones, cameras banned from voting booths in Turkey

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 May 11:14

Voters will be fined for violating these rules, and will be able to leave these devices at the entrance of polling booths and retrieve them after voting, since no one but the voter should enter the polling booth.

A voter at a polling station during the Turkish elections, in Hatay, Turkey on May 14, 2023. (Reuters)

As reported by Turkish media, voters in Turkey were banned on Sunday from entering polling booths carrying mobile phones and cameras after stations opened at 8 am local time.

Voters will be fined for violating this rule, the Hurriyet newspaper stated, adding that they can leave these devices at the entrance and retrieve them after voting, since no one but the voter should enter the polling booth.

The reasoning for this is that the voter should make the choice themselves, and banning phones would prevent electoral fraud. If a voter is illiterate, the polling station chairman can provide assistance.

For the first time in voting history, the visually impaired will have a template prepared for them and sent to each ballot box.

Sputnik confirmed that security measures at the polling station in Istanbul where Erdogan will cast his vote have been vamped up since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The station's premises have been equipped with special forces soldiers and law enforcement officers dressed in civilian clothes alongside fences preventing cars from entering.

According to a poll by the Areda research organization, 51.3% of respondents plan to vote for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first round of elections, while 44.2% plan to vote for the major opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Sinan Ogan, the third contender, might earn about 4% of the vote.

A combined total of over 64.1 million voters will vote both in the country and abroad, including around 4.9 million who will vote for the first time in Turkey. The number of imprisoned voters is 53,172.

For those affected by the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes, voters will be able to cast their ballots wherever they register their address, as nearly 133,000 voters from the earthquake-hit areas had their registrations transferred to other areas.

Ballot box committees have been set in 73 countries alongside 156 foreign representations, as the voting process overseas ended on May 9. The votes, now stored in the Overseas District Election Board in Ankara, will be counted with other votes on Sunday.