Integrity of elections in Urfa questioned amidst allegations of bloc voting

The recent parliamentary elections in Turkey’s southeastern province of Urfa saw hundreds of irregularities stemming from suspected bloc voting, raising doubts about the integrity of the electoral process. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the Green Left Party and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) have jointly released a statement highlighting the irregularities found.

The parties' statement outlines several alarming allegations, including attempts to remove observers from the ballot boxes, the presence of illiterate voters inside voting booths, and the recording of Green Left Party votes under the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) column. These irregularities were reportedly observed in more than 300 ballot boxes where block voting was suspected.

"Ballot box observers claimed that observers could not be present at the ballot boxes for a long time and attempted to remove them from the halls with the help of law enforcement. Despite being prohibited, ballot box officials entered voting booths with illiterate voters.” the statement said.

The statement also suggested that over 50,000 votes have been identified in the affected ballot boxes, indicating a significant impact on the representation of approximately 150,000 people in Urfa.

In the parliamentary elections held on May 14, the AKP won 8 seats, the Green Left Party won 4 seats, and both the MHP and CHP won 1 seat each in Urfa.