by Zeynep Cermen, Burak Akinci
ANKARA/ISTANBUL, May 14 (Xinhua)-- Millions of voters in Türkiye flocked to the polls on Sunday to cast their ballots in the presidential and parliamentary elections with apparent excitement.
Even minutes before the voting took its start officially across the country at 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), many voters had already queued in schools and some public institutions in Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city, waiting to cast their ballots.
A school-turned-polling station in the Besiktas district on the European side of the city has seen a flood of voters in the early hours of the day.
"Our citizens are very excited and many of them were here before 8 o'clock," electoral officer Nedret Seckin told Xinhua, adding "we allowed our elderly rest on chairs so that they could comfortably wait for the start."
In Seckin's view, the turnout is much higher than in previous elections. "It is 8:57 a.m., and we already saw drastic participation," said Seckin.
Around 11 million eligible voters in the city will cast their votes into 31,124 ballot boxes set up across all 39 districts. Each ballot box is supervised by a committee consisting of a chairperson, a civil servant, and representatives of the political parties.
"We are responsible for ensuring that the doors are safely closed, the votes are counted, and the bags are delivered smoothly to the district election boards without negligence," Seckin explained.
Ilter Sayin, an 80-year-old retiree, was among the early comers.
"Everyone is so excited," Sayin said, noting "we are all aware that the outcome of this election will change the fate of the country."
In the capital of Ankara, people also showed up at polling centers even before voting began.
Aydin Sezgin, a taxi driver, said he will vote for incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I'm standing by our president until the end. Yes we have some economic problems, but he is still the best candidate," he said.
Mustafa Sahin, a pensioner accompanied by his wife and two children, said he will vote for Erdogan, praising him for having done "a lot of good for Türkiye."
Mustafa Akman, a retired pharmacist in his sixties, is waiting to cast his ballot at a school-turned-polling station. "We are here to vote for a change," said Akman.
The presidential election is expected to be a tight race between Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
Erdogan, 69, founder and leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party, has been leading the country since 2014 as the 12th president. He served as Türkiye's prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.
According to surveys, Kilicdaroglu, 74, might have a chance of winning for the first time as a six-party bloc of opposition parties backs him.
According to pollsters, Erdogan, Türkiye's longest-serving president, is facing the toughest test yet during his 10 years in office amid a strong and united opposition against him due to the economic downturn and the aftermath of devastating tremors in February.
Some 61 million voters will cast their votes in the twin presidential and parliamentary elections. If no presidential candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote on Sunday, there will be a runoff vote on May 28.
Voters will also elect 600 lawmakers in 81 provinces of Türkiye. ■
