Over 1.92 mln expats vote in Turkiye’s presidential runoff election

 
ANKARA: More than 1.92 million Turkish nationals have cast their votes abroad so far for Turkiye’s May 28 presidential runoff, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
 
Voting at diplomatic missions ended on Wednesday, while polling will continue at customs gates until 5pm local time (1400 GMT) on Sunday, Election Day in Turkiye itself.
 
According to Turkiye’s Supreme Election Council, more than 1.92 million people cast their votes at Turkiye’s foreign missions and customs gates as of 4pm local time (1300 GMT) on Saturday.
 
In the May 14 elections, some 1.84 million Turkish citizens abroad went to the polls to vote in both presidential and parliamentary elections.
Voter turnout in the presidential runoff has so far beaten that total by nearly 80,600.
 
People unable to cast their ballots within the designated times in their country of residence will be able to vote at customs gates until 5pm Sunday.
 
In the first round of the elections, Turkish nationals abroad cast their votes at the country’s foreign representative offices between April 27 and May 9 and at the customs gates until May 14.
 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s People’s Alliance won a majority in parliament, while the presidential race headed to a second round as no candidate won a simple majority, or more than 50 per cent of the votes. Erdogan, however, led with 49.52 per cent.
 
Erdogan will face Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, in Sunday’s runoff vote. – BERNAMA-ANADOLU