AKP requested, YSK changed the ballot paper at the last minute! Here is Istanbul's new ballot...
The AKP's application to the YSK, claiming that its voters were casting ballots for independent candidates listed under the AKP logo and thus causing a loss of votes, has been accepted. Consequently, a change has been made to the ballot paper in Istanbul.
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Following the application made by the AKP to the YSK, an "independent candidates" section was added to the ballot paper for Istanbul ahead of the March 31 Local Elections.
According to a report by Yeni Şafak, AKP's YSK Representative Recep Özel applied to the presidency, requesting the use of a new template for the ballot paper that would clearly distinguish political parties from independent candidates.
Recep Özel stated the following:
“In the 2019 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections, voters cast their ballots for the independent candidate listed under the political party they intended to vote for, thinking they were voting for their own party. By perceiving them as being in the same place, they voted for both their party and the independent candidate below it, rendering their vote invalid. In this way, 11 thousand votes were cast for the independent candidate under the AK Party's logo. A total of 319 thousand 540 votes were declared invalid across all districts. We requested that the template be changed to ensure this problem does not recur in these elections, where even a single vote is important.”
"INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES" ADDED
When representatives of other parties also signed off on Özel's application, the YSK convened in an extraordinary session. Evaluating the issue, the YSK decided to add the phrase “independent candidates” to the space between the parties and the independents, in a way that completely covers the gap.
Here is the new template: