Over 64 million voters called to the polls
On Sunday 14 May in Turkey 64.1 million voters – 32.3 million women and 31.8 million men – are called to choose the president and the new Parliament. There are almost five million new voters while the over 75s are around 3.2 million.
In the country, general elections are held every five years. Those parties that exceeded the 5% threshold in the previous parliamentary elections or those that have collected at least 100,000 signatures can nominate presidential candidates. Voting times, according to the Sabah newspaper website, are from 8 to 17.
There are three presidential candidates left after the withdrawal of centrist Muharrem Ince. In addition to outgoing president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there are his most accredited challenger, the social democrat Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and far-right Sinan Ogan. Voting took place abroad until 9 May and in Italy around 17,000 people went to the polling stations in Milan and Rome.
On Election Day, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be banned from 6am until midnight and many entertainment venues will be closed or will only be able to serve food to patrons. Coffee shops, tea rooms and internet cafes will remain closed, while weddings can be celebrated but only after 6pm. To allow for ballots, schools will be closed on Monday 15th.
The Ysk, which established the electoral regulations, has forbidden the dissemination of data and any comment on the vote released in the press until 6 pm. From then and until 9 pm, only the Commission will be able to disclose news and data on the elections. The first results are expected after 9pm.
If no candidate for the presidency obtains more than 50% of the votes, a run-off between the two most voted will be held on Sunday 28 May with the same rules and bans as in the first round. The second round abroad will be held between 20 and 24 May.
Source-www.adnkronos.com