When will the domestic voter registry be posted? When will it be taken down?

With the March 31, 2024 local elections only days away, the domestic voter registry will be posted on January 4, according to the Supreme Election Council (YSK) circular published in the Official Gazette.

VOTER REGISTRY TO BE TAKEN DOWN ON JANUARY 17

The YSK circular, which determines the procedures and principles regarding the updating of the Domestic Voter Registry, has been published in the Official Gazette.

Accordingly, in the election calendar starting on January 1, 2024, for the local administration elections to be held on March 31, 2024, the neighborhood-level voter lists will be posted on Thursday, January 4, 2024, at 08:00, and will be taken down on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 17:00. Before January 1, 2024, the General Directorate of Voter Registry will electronically obtain information from the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs regarding Turkish citizens who have a valid residence address as of October 1 and who will have turned 18 by the day of the vote.

For voters who do not appear in the address registration system because their address has been closed, the most recent valid address information found in the address registration system will be obtained from the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs and recorded in the voter registry. Information regarding privates and non-commissioned officers under arms as of the day of the vote will be obtained from the Ministry of National Defense General Directorate of Recruitment; information regarding convicts in penal institutions, excluding those convicted of negligent crimes, will be obtained from the Ministry of Justice, and their records will be frozen. In places accepted as a "disaster area affecting general life" due to the earthquakes that occurred on February 6, the district election board presidency will announce where the neighborhood-level voter lists are posted by utilizing all kinds of broadcasting media.

HOW WILL THE OBJECTION PROCESS WORK?

Voters who are bedridden due to illness or disability can have a relative apply to the district election board presidency, or to the local headman (muhtar) to be forwarded to the district election board presidency, using the "mobile ballot box request form" available at the "www.ysk.gov.tr" website in order to vote in mobile ballot boxes.

Voters and political parties will be able to object to the neighborhood-level voter lists within the announced period; political parties will notify the local district election board presidency in writing, with a seal and signature, as to who is authorized to file objections on behalf of their party.

The district election board president will make a final decision on objections made to the neighborhood-level voter lists no later than Saturday, January 20, 2024, at 17:00, from the moment they are received.

In accordance with these decisions, for the necessary registration and correction procedures to be carried out, objections made by political parties will be finalized by the district election board on January 29, 2024, by the provincial election board on February 2, 2024, and by the YSK on February 5, 2024, and the domestic voter registry will be finalized on February 7, 2024.