June 18, 2018•Update: June 18, 2018
NEW YORK
The nine-day period for Turkish expats in the U.S. to cast their votes for Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections ended on Sunday, the Turkish consul general in New York said on Monday.
Voting at polling stations in New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Miami, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles ended on Sunday at 20.00 p.m. (1700 GMT).
After being sealed, their votes will be sent by airmail on Monday to an overseas election office in Istanbul.
Out of just over 40,000 registered Turkish voters in New York, 12,845 of them went to the polls, Ertan Yalcin, Turkish consul general in New York, told Anadolu Agency.
Meanwhile, the head of ruling AK Party’s regional electoral office in America, Levent Ali Yildiz, said the U.S. voting on June 9-17 took place without incident.
In Turkey, voters will go to the polls on June 24 -- less than a week away.
Over 3 million Turks living abroad are eligible to vote for the presidential and general elections.
Six candidates are running for president, while eight political parties are taking part in the parliamentary elections.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014.
Turkish citizens living abroad and traveling to Turkey this month can also cast their votes at custom gates until 5 p.m. local time on June 24.
Reporting by Betul Yuruk:Writing by Cansu Dikme
