As UK-based expatriates prepare to vote this weekend, just 4.7% of Turkish and Kurdish voters in the UK booked a voting time slot
Barely 5 percent of eligible expatriates have booked a time to vote in this weekend’s Turkish presidential election.
Figures released by the Turkish Electoral Commission (YSK) revealed just 3,605 people (4.7%) from a UK-based electorate of 76,000 logged on to its website to choose when to cast their ballots.
Booking a timeslot was not compulsory and registered voters who did log on will be automatically allocated a slot by the system, but there are fears the low turnout could be an indication of voter apathy.
HOW TO VOTE
The polling station at Kensington’s Olympia Centre will be open between 8 am and 4pm on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August.
Voters can check their allocated voting time by logging on to the YSK’s website at www.ysk.gov.tr. Anyone who misses their voting time will still be able to vote if they coming to the polling station on the same day, but cannot vote on a different day.
As with elections in Turkey, voters will be required to present a form of identity that contains their national identity number (TC Kimlik Numarası), such as an identity card or passport.
Mr Yorulmazlar said that staff from the Consulate will be on hand at the polling station to guide voters to the correct ballot box.
Polling stations will remain open at Turkish airports and land and sea borders until 10 August.
With London Overground services disrupted this weekend, here are some alternative routes to Olympia
LOW TURNOUT FEARS
Fears of a low turnout are fuelled by the fact that many Turkish nationals were not informed that they had to register their addresses at embassies or consulates in order to obtain an appointment.
Voters without internet access will also have been similarly inconvenienced.
In Britain, community organisations like the Union of European Turkish Democrats and the Alevi Cultural Centre have mobilised large numbers of its members to ensure as many people as possible vote on the day.
LOW REGISTRATION ACROSS THE WORLD
The timeslot booking system introduced by the YSK appears to have attracted similarly few numbers of people around the world.
In Germany, where the number of Turkish voters is 1,380,909, only 92,092 voters have registered to vote in the first round.
Of France’s 293,412 voters, just 21,333 booked a slot, while 12,862 of the Netherlands’ 238,968 eligible expatriates did the same.