According to an unofficial statement released by the Istanbul Supreme Election Board, more than half a million votes were declared invalid in Istanbul, nearing the total invalid votes casted in 2007 and 2011 elections combined.As Istanbul has 88 deputies in three electoral districts combined, independent candidates were placed under party lists in the voting ballots, causing confusion in voters, although the Board did not officially acknowledge this as a reason. Throughout the election day, Turkish media sources and election officials warned voters not to confuse party lists with independent candidates or not to cast votes in both sections.537,422 votes out of the total 8,832,024 were declared invalid as they were casted against election regulations. This number was only 195,733 in 2011 elections, although 8,132,340 votes were casted.Istanbul's invalid votes were more than a third of total invalid votes in Turkey. 1,326,434 invalid votes were casted throughout the country, more than the Saadet (Felicity) Party's 942,047 votes which were ranked fifth according to the results.Despite 7,352,992 voters who did not cast their votes, voter turnout exceeded 86 percent.