Void Ballots ^₍₁₎

(Amended by Article 21 of Law 5980 on 8 April 2010.)

The joint ballots listed below shall be deemed void:

1. Those that do not have the specific colour and form arranged for that election type as the ballots provided by the Polling Station Committee,
2. Those that do not bear the watermark 'The Republic of Turkey, Supreme Board of Elections' on the back side,
3. Those that do not bear the seal of the Polling Station committee on the back side,
4. Joint ballots that have not been stamped with a “yes” stamp on any place
5. Ballots that are stamped with “yes” in more than one circle reserved for the political parties or independent candidates.
6. Those with the “yes” stamp that has spilled over to more than one circle reserved for political parties and independent candidates.
7. Ballots that have been arranged for an electoral district other than the electoral district in which the polling station is located,
8. Ballots that have been torn or ripped in such a way compromising its integrity,
9. Ballots that have been marked with any sign other than the ‘YES’ seal such as a special mark, any signature, signature stamp, seal or finger print,
10. Ballots on which the space reserved for the political parties or independent candidates is specially scratched, crossed or marked in a pronounced way
11. Ballots that have been marked with writings, letters, numbers or shapes other than those that are printed on the original ballot.
However, the following conditions shall not render a ballot void
1. Tearing of envelopes at the time of opening or reading
2. Inadvertent tearing of a part of the ballot without compromising its integrity
3. Ballots that bear spots, on which there is no clear understanding that they have been marked with a special sign.
4. The spilling over of the ‘YES’ seal and the polling station seal at the back of the ballot on other parts of the ballot paper due to folding of the ballot paper at the time of placement in the envelope.
5. The spilling over of the ‘YES’ seal stamped in the space reserved for a political party or independent candidate, in the area with a double line designating the separation of only two political parties.
6. More than one ‘YES’ seal being stamped in the space reserved for one political party provided that it has not spilled over to the space of another political party or independent candidate.

(Annex: annexed on 13/3/2018 in accordance with article 11 of Law 7102) 7. In the case of that the ballot papers sent by the authorized electoral boards and having water marks of the Supreme Court of Elections in their back are not stamped because of the neglection of the polling box committees.
In elections where more than one ballot is placed in the same envelope, if one of the ballots belonging to a specific election type in that envelope is void, the remaining ballots shall not be deemed void as well.

In the case of the elections for the headmen, the Supreme Board of Elections shall determine the conditions under which the ballots shall be deemed void other than those conditions described in this article.

₍₁₎ The former heading of this article ‘Auditing of ballots and opened envelopes’ was amended by Article 21 of Law 5980 on 8 April 2010 and reads as seen in the current text.