Interim Observation Report on the Presidential and 28th Parliamentary Elections
14 May 2023
Within the scope of the election observation activities carried out by İHD and the Independent Election Monitoring Platform, the first data we have received regarding allegations of electoral violations are as follows:
In Eskitaş village of Kahta district of Adıyaman, brothers of AKP Adıyaman provincial chairperson, were allowed to vote openly in the village in the presence of gendarmerie officers.
Ankara: In Çankaya district Gülen Muharrem Pakoğlu Secondary School, Green Left Party representative was not allowed to take part in the ballot box board no. 1174 on the grounds that their name was not included in the list handed to the chairperson of the board although they had a document issued by the Supreme Electoral Board.
Ankara Abroad: İHD Secretary General Hüseyin Küçükbalaban, executive board members Osman İşçi, Adnan Vural and İHD member İsmail Boyraz arrived at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce Congress Hall, where the international votes were to be counted, at around 19.30 to conduct independent election monitoring. The District Election Board official and the security chief were informed about the delegation’s observation and work. They told the delegation that they would inform the District Election Judge and asked them to wait. The delegation waited for more than an hour. When asked again, they replied that they had not received any information about the delegation going inside for observation. The delegation then left the place.
Diyarbakır: Nearly 200 people could not vote because they were made members of ballot boards without their knowledge. Voters were informed at the polling station that they could not vote. Voters could not vote because they did not have the 142-coded documents required for ballot committee members.
In Gaziantep, it was learned that around 1000 voters were allegedly registered as observers on behalf of the Vatan Party without their knowledge, and that they learned that their names were not on the ballot box lists they thought they were registered in, and that the ballot boxes they registered as observers were both very far away and that they were told that they could not vote without obtaining the 142 document, so that many people could not vote because they could not obtain a 142 document.
In Giresun, ballots were allegedly pre-stamped for Erdoğan.
It is reported that AKP observers beat a member of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) at Neslişah Imam Hatip Secondary School in Fatih district of Istanbul.
During the voting process in the rural Eşme neighborhood of Mardin (Kızıltepe) district, relatives of AKP candidate Faruk Kılıç wanted to vote collectively. Green Left Party observers objected to the situation and wanted to record the incident on their phones. Meanwhile, a group of dozens of Kılıç’s relatives attacked the Green Left Party observers. Havas Güngör and Kemal Erbey were injured during the attack. The two citizens were taken to Kızıltepe District State Hospital for treatment.
A list of 33 independent election observers reported to the Provincial Election Board by İHD’s Mersin branch were not accepted by the Election Board on the grounds that “the law does not include non-governmental organizations as observers”.
In Urfa Harran Alacalı Village, it was reported that men voted in place of women.
According to the statements of Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki, HDP’s Supreme Electoral Board representative in Siverek district of Urfa, open voting was reported in Çinhisar Primary School in Çinhisar Neighborhood.
Şırnak Uludere: İHD member and independent election observer Fevzi Kara was reportedly attacked and slightly injured by village guard chief Hazım Babat and his supporters.
Şırnak/Silopi: Esin Yılmaz, İHD’s Şırnak branch chairperson, reported that they were prevented at the school they went to observe in Yenişehir neighborhood and their ID cards were taken. Officers stated that they would check their identity cards. Background checks were done and the cards were given back.
In the rural Gündaş neighborhood of Urfa (Akçakale) district, a group of 40-50 people who wanted to vote en masse poured boiling water over a CHP ballot committee member. According to the allegations, a group of 40-50 people who came to vote at the polling station in Kardeşler hamlet of Gündaş neighborhood in the morning hours wanted to cast a block vote. The CHP ballot committee member who objected to the block voting was physically and verbally attacked by the crowd.