Home > 1. The principles of Europe's electoral heritage > TÜRKIYE - Law on Basic Provisions on Elections and Voter Registers with Amendments made by Laws 7062, 7102 and 7140
 
 
 
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Article 98
 

(Amended by Article 19 of Law 5980 on 8 April 2010)


Once the transactions and procedures specified in the foregoing articles, the ballot box shall be opened by the chairman of the polling station committee witnessed by those present in the polling station.


The envelopes taken out of the ballot box shall be counted twice out loud by the chairman of the polling station committee. If there is a difference between the first and second counts, a third count shall be made and the results noted accordingly and the envelopes used in that specific election type shall be determined. The number of envelopes determined shall be noted down in the minutes created for that specific election type.


Once all the envelopes are counted, they shall be checked to see whether they comply with the validity requirements.


(Amended on 13/3/2018 in accordance with the aricle 9 of Law 7102) Envelopes that are not of the type and colour given by the polling station committee, those that do not bear the seal of the district electoral board and polling station committee, those who have been entirely torn, and those that bear any seal, signature, writing, fingerprints or markings other than those of the district electoral board and polling station committee shall be deemed void. However, even the envelopes have not stamped by the ballot box committes but that has water mark, emblem and stamp of the district election board seal and even in cases where the envelope bears any spots or scratches, such envelopes shall be deemed valid if it cannot be understood for sure that such marks were made with the purpose of putting a specific sign on the envelope.


Envelopes about which an objection is made and envelopes that are deemed void with no objection shall be put aside by the chairman. Once the polling station committee has checked all the envelopes, they shall examine the envelopes about which an objection was made and decide on whether these shall be deemed void or valid. Following this, the total number of the valid and void envelopes from that ballot box shall be noted down in the relevant section of the special minutes kept for each election type.


The void envelopes shall be packed, the package shall be sealed and the number of envelopes shall be written down on the package. These envelopes shall be saved and not opened under any condition.


Once these procedures are carried out, the total number of valid and void envelopes shall be compared with the number of voters who have cast a vote in that specific election type.


If the number of envelopes are equal to or less than the number of voters who have cast a vote for that specific election type, no other procedure shall apply.


If the number of envelopes is higher than the number of voters who have cast votes, first the number of void envelopes shall be deducted for purposes of matching the figures. If the number of voters does not match the number of ballots despite the deduction of the number of void envelopes, the chairman of the polling station committee shall randomly pick an adequate number of valid envelopes to ensure a match and these envelopes shall be immediately burned without being opened. The number of envelopes that were destroyed shall be noted down in the minutes.


Once the above procedures are completed, the valid envelopes shall be placed back in the ballot box and the counting shall commence.


All such procedures shall be noted down in the minutes book, signed by the chairman and members of the polling station committee and duly sealed.


The ballot boxes shall not be taken outside the polling station until all counting and listing procedures for all election types are completed.