Main opposition leader Özgür Özel has said his Republican People’s Party (CHP) has appointed officials to oversee the vast majority of polling stations for Türkiye’s next elections, despite the vote not yet being scheduled.
The CHP has assigned officials to 180,000 of the roughly 194,000 polling stations expected to be set up nationwide, Özel told news outlet T24.
"This is an area we’ve been working on very specifically," Özel said, referring to criticisms the party faced over polling station security in the last elections.
He said previous shortcomings stemmed from provinces where the CHP did not field candidates due to electoral alliances, limiting its ability to appoint officials.
"[This time] we’ve already appointed polling station officials. We also have a call center team of 100 people," Özel said.
According to Özel, officials will be instructed during their three-month term to visit voters in their assigned areas and offer CHP members the opportunity to work together.
He also announced plans for a nationwide "polling station security exercise" in September to test the party’s preparedness.
"Polling station officials will wake up at 6 a.m. on a day we determine, arrive at the schools at 7 a.m. ... and send us the signed ballots. On that day, we will identify and replace those who cause problems in the exercise," he said.
"The entire team will participate in the exercise. Officials will go to the polls in 963 districts across 81 provinces simultaneously."
The CHP has been calling for early elections since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's arrest last year on corruption charges he denies, although Türkiye’s next national vote is not scheduled until 2028.
İmamoğlu was detained on the same day he was named the CHP’s presidential candidate for next elections.
Earlier this week in Ankara, the CHP unveiled policy pledges prepared by its presidential campaign office for İmamoğlu across 18 ministries.
The platform included a return to a parliamentary system and full compliance with rulings of Türkiye’s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. It also outlined tax reform, strengthening the defense industry, rapid steps toward full membership in the European Union and a foreign policy that “does not change according to America.”
