Joint objection from AKP and CHP against 'transported voters'

AKP and CHP town branches in the Taşköprü town of Yalova's Çiftlikköy district have submitted a petition of objection to the Provincial Election Board, alleging the use of "transported voters." The town branch officials of the two parties, which are acting together on the issue of transported voters in the town where Democrat Party member İsmail Arslan currently serves as mayor, held a joint press statement.

AKP Town President Beytullah Ilgaz and CHP Town President Hasan Sarımeşe attended the statement held at Taşköprü Square. Reading the joint text, Sarımeşe stated the following:

“As the Town Presidents of the Justice and Development Party and the Republican People's Party, we have reached a consensus to work together to identify and remove transported voters from the records, so that the mayor of Taşköprü can be determined by voters who actually reside in Taşköprü in the local elections to be held on March 31, 2024. As a result of the examination of the voter lists posted by the two political parties in the Taşköprü Central Neighborhood and Yeni Neighborhood headman offices, we have determined that a number of people who have never been to the town of Taşköprü are listed on the posted voter lists as if they reside in our town, in a quantity that could directly affect the election results. There are numerous transported voter registrations, primarily in Elmakent Site, Başak Site, Zuhal Kent Site, and some houses in the Taşköprü Central Neighborhood, registered as guest citizens. For example, we have identified that in the Elmakent Site located on Arif Hikmet Kulunyar Street in Yeni Neighborhood, 11 transported voters are registered in a single house where they do not actually live, and in another house in the same site, a total of 6 transported voters, 4 women and 2 men with different surnames, are registered; these are just some of the houses we have identified. Necessary objections regarding the removal of the identified transported voters have been made by submitting a petition to the Provincial Election Board. We hereby invite our Governor, our Çiftlikköy District Governor, and our Yalova Provincial Election Board President to take action regarding the removal of the identified transported voters from the voter list. We respectfully inform the public that we will follow the process and that we will continue to monitor all negative and unlawful situations that may affect the election results with care and attention.”

News Source: İHA