Home > 1.3.2.2 Voting procedures > TÜRKIYE - Law on Basic Provisions on Elections and Voter Registers with Amendments made by Laws 7062, 7102 and 7140
 
 
 
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Article 94
 

Casting votes by means of sending a letter (1)


Annex: by Article 10 of Law 5749 on 13 March 2008)


The Supreme Board of Elections shall send the specially produced ballots and ballot envelopes printed in special colours to the Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board. The Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board shall send the ballots, the back side of which shall bear its own seal, and the ballot envelopes, to the address at which the voter is registered in the foreign country seventy-five days prior to election day.


Among the special envelopes sent to the voter to cast his vote, the smaller envelope bearing the seal of the Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board is the envelope in which the ballots shall be placed. This envelope shall then be placed in a second medium-sized envelope bearing the words ‘Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board Ankara / TURKEY’, this second envelope shall then be placed in a third and larger envelope bearing the foreign country address of the voter.


The voter who receives this letter shall open the envelope bearing his own name, shall use the ballot placed inside the small envelope bearing the seal to mark the circle reserved for the political party of his choice or the relevant section in the presidential elections or referendum with an (X), after which he shall place only the ballot in the small envelope and seal the envelope. He shall then place this envelope in the second envelope bearing the address ‘Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board Ankara / TURKEY’, shall seal the envelope and post the envelope via mail so that it is delivered to the Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board by 17.00 hours on election day.


The procedures and principles pertaining to the sending of the letters, security and identification issues shall be determined by the Supreme Board of Elections upon consultation with the Directorate General for Postal Services and Telegrams. The postal fees shall be borne by the Supreme Board for Elections.


Once the identification of the voter has been confirmed and his name in the voter registry marked, the letter, which arrives at the ‘Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board, shall be opened by the Polling Station Committee and the smaller envelope carrying the ballot shall be placed in the ballot box without being opened. The ballot box shall be opened each day by the authorized polling station committee at 17.00 hours, the envelopes therein shall be compared with the number of voters and compliance shall be recorded in the minutes. The ballot envelopes shall be placed in a bag without being opened, together with a copy of the minutes kept, and the bag shall be sealed and delivered to the Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board by the polling station committee.


Letters arriving later than 17.00 hours on election day shall be noted down in the minutes and destroyed by means of burning.


As of 17.00 hours on election day, the ballot bags shall be opened by the Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board and the ballots shall be counted, listed and combined after which the results shall be conveyed to the Ankara Provincial Electoral Board. The Ankara Provincial electoral Board shall arrange minutes for combining of these votes and send the results to the Supreme Board of Elections.


The total number of valid votes cast by the foreign resident voters shall be added by the Supreme Board of Elections to the total number of valid votes cast throughout Turkey to find the nation-wide overall number of votes and the nation-wide valid number of votes received by each party.


Hence, the total number of votes that are the basis of article 33 of the Law on Parliamentary Elections shall be determined.


The total number of valid votes for each electoral district shall be increased by the ratio found by dividing the total number of votes, which are notified by the Foreign Country Residents District Electoral Board to the Ankara Provincial Electoral Board, by the total number of domestic votes. The difference between the total votes cast in that electoral district and the votes that are thus calculated shall be distributed to parties in the ratio corresponding to their share in the number of votes coming from the Ankara District Electoral Board and the figures found shall be added to the valid number of votes these parties have received from that electoral district. Thus, the total number of valid votes cast in the principal electoral district specified in article 34 of the Parliamentary Elections Law and the total number of valid votes received by parties shall be found.