A senior member of Vote and Beyond provides training about the electoral rules in Istanbul, Türkiye, May 9, 2023. An army of volunteers has been monitoring the voting process to prevent any misconduct in Türkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday.
According to a representative of Vote and Beyond, the most prominent NGO in the country for securing elections, nearly 100,000 volunteers are at the polls across Türkiye's 81 provinces. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)
by Zeynep Cermen
ISTANBUL, May 14 (Xinhua) -- An army of volunteers has been monitoring the voting process to prevent any misconduct in Türkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday.
According to a representative of Vote and Beyond, the most prominent NGO in the country for securing elections, nearly 100,000 volunteers are at the polls across Türkiye's 81 provinces.
"We observe the election process so that there is no mistake," Gonca Acikal, a member of the organization, told Xinhua, adding that its "observer candidates" have been given intense training ahead of the elections.
Their mission starts days before the election day.
During the preparation, checking the backs of ballot papers and envelopes to see if the required official seal is there is very important, said Acikal, noting they would inform officials immediately if an unsealed one were found.
"On election day, if they (volunteers) encounter an abnormal situation, they know very well how to manage it," Acikal explained, adding: "If necessary, they can intervene and introduce how it should be."
Vote and Beyond paid significant attention to electoral sites in the earthquake zone and held a massive training on volunteers in the southern province of Hatay, the worst hit area by the devastating twin quakes in February.
Acikal mentioned that instead of buildings, the ballot boxes were set up in containers and tents in quake zones, noting the voting process requires specific attention.
Berrak Turnaoglu is among the volunteers who participated in the training session in Istanbul.
"I choose to be a volunteer to be sure that our elections are duly conducted," Turnaoglu told Xinhua. "It is very beneficial in preventing the problems that may occur on that day between the ballot box committee and voters, so as to take a more collaborative and solution-oriented approach and to ensure a smooth election process."
Some 61 million voters will cast their ballots in the elections, and nearly 192,00 ballot boxes were set up in 81 provinces. Each ballot box is supervised by a committee consisting of a chairperson, a civil servant, and representatives of the political parties. It is a legal right of civilians to be volunteers and monitor the voting and counting processes in Türkiye's elections. ■
A senior member of Vote and Beyond provides training about the electoral rules in Istanbul, Türkiye, May 9, 2023. An army of volunteers has been monitoring the voting process to prevent any misconduct in Türkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday.
According to a representative of Vote and Beyond, the most prominent NGO in the country for securing elections, nearly 100,000 volunteers are at the polls across Türkiye's 81 provinces. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)
