Authorities hear objections to election results in 11 cities
Competitors in the March 31 local elections are demanding recounts or annulments in constituencies with contested vote margins or invalid ballot papers
authorities this week are deliberating objections to the results of last Sunday’s local elections in 11 Turkish provinces where the vote margin between two candidates was very small.
Provincial and district election councils in Istanbul, Hatay, Van, Kırklareli, Gümüşhane, Şanlıurfa, Samsun, as well as Kütahya, Ardahan, Bolu and Erzurum provinces, are set to determine until April 7 whether to order a recount, repeat or annulment.
In Istanbul’s six districts, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which won 35 mayoral seats including 14 metropolitan cities, has contested the exit results, demanding a recount of votes.
Yesterday, party members brawled during the recount at the local election board offices in the Gaziosmanpaşa district.
The CHP challenger, Hakan Bahçetepe, won the district with 40.4% of the vote, only slightly ahead of the 40.1% won by Hasan Tahsin Usta, the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
While local authorities and 50 observers from each party were recounting the votes, a scuffle broke out both inside and outside the hall between party supporters who were waiting for the new results, which was eventually contained by the police.
While riots continue in eastern Van after the local board annulled the mayoralty of a pro-PKK Green Left Party (YSP) candidate, in southern Hatay, the CHP is objecting to the lead of AK Party candidate Mehmet Öntürk against his rival Lütfü Savaş.
Öntürk took the town hall by winning 346,060 votes against former Mayor Savaş’s 342,699 votes in the city, which was hit the hardest by the Feb. 6 earthquakes last year.
In northwestern Kırklareli, the CHP is demanding a recount of all ballot boxes containing 52,945 votes after its candidate
won 20,770 votes against the 21,173 won by Derya Bulut of AK Party ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
In northeastern Gümüşhane, votes are being counted again after the AK Party objected to the results, citing its candidate won by a 549-vote margin and invalid votes in the election center should be considered to close the gap.
The ruling party also objected to results from 15 ballot boxes in southeastern Şanlıurfa’s Hilvan district, causing the local election body to renew the elections of the mayor, municipal council members and
mukhtars of new neighborhoods on June 2.
In northern Samsun’s Bafra district, Murat Arabacı, the mayoral candidate of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) was placed under the logo of the Homeland Party (MP) even though it didn’t compete, on the ballot paper. AK Party candidate Hamit Kılıç won the city. Five parties including CHP, Good Party (İP), MP, DSP and New Welfare Party (YRP), applied to the local board for the election’s annulment but the request was denied by four to three.
In Kütahya’s Emet, Ardahan’s Çıldır, Bolu’s Gerede and Erzurum’s Aşkale districts,
MHP, CHP, the Great Union Party (BBP) and YRP, respectively, objected to election results. In the Körfez district, which the AK Party won with 1,395 votes, the CHP contested all ballot boxes, demanding a recount, but the local board ultimately rejected it.
Unofficial results so far show the AK Party won 24 mayoral seats nationwide while YSP, informally known as the Peoples’ Democratic Party (DEM Party), took 10, MHP eight, YRP two, and BBP and İP one each.
Among Türkiye’s 30 metropolitan municipalities, the CHP won 14, AK Party 12,
DEM Party three, and the YRP one.
For Türkiye’s 51 provincial municipalities, the CHP won 18 mayoral elections out of 44 reported, while the AK Party got nine, the MHP eight, DEM Party six, and the BBP, İP, and YRP one each.
With nearly all ballot boxes opened across the country, the CHP leads with 37.76% of votes, followed by the AK Party with 35.48%. Candidates from a total of 34 political parties competed in the elections, with over 206,000 polling stations set up across the country.