100,000+ voters get new polling places for safety

By Aylin Sirikli

ANKARA

For security reasons, polling places for 114,000 Turkish voters are being moved ahead of the June 24 general elections, the Supreme Board of Election (YSK) announced Monday.

“We got requests from 19 governorships to relocate polling places. These requests were individually reviewed by the board,” YSK Chair Sadi Guven told Anadolu Agency.

"This is not the first time we’ve received requests to relocate ballot boxes," said Guven, adding that so far district election boards have decided to move some polling stations, when for instance villages and neighborhoods are close to each other.

Legislation passed in March allows the YSK to move polling stations to the nearest constituency up to one month before Election Day if deemed necessary for election security, Guven said.

"The board used rigorous evaluation to decide, taking into account the number of voters and their distance" from the stations, he added.

The board has set a maximum walking distance of five kilometers (three miles) for voters from their polling stations, Guven added.