Ballot box cheating has 15 percent effect on elections, Turkey’s opposition claims

Ballot box cheating has 15 percent effect on elections, Turkey’s opposition claims

Bülent Sarıoğlu - ANKARA
Ballot box cheating has 15 percent effect on elections, Turkey’s opposition claims Ballot boxes irregularities in Turkey affect the election results by around 10 to 15 percent, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) recently claimed to a delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The CHP met with a six-member cross-party delegation of PACE, which paid a visit to Turkey on May 5-6, 2015 for observations ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

The CHP claimed that a political party with 30 percent of the vote would be able to increase its votes to around 34.5 percent by cheating in the voting. 

Referring to examples in the 2007 local elections, the party suggested that dying one finger of voters who have used their vote, in order to prevent double voting, should be reintroduced.

The electronic system used in the vote counting should be open source software and should be renewed for the security, the CHP also told the PACE delegation.  

Party representatives should be allowed to enter the terminals of ballot boxes, data recordings should be conducted at the same time in the presence of all parties, and the penalties for cheating in elections should be increased, the party added.