Polling stations closed on Sunday in most countries worldwide for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye.
Voting ended as of 9 p.m. local time at Turkish diplomatic missions and border gates in many European countries, as well as North America, Central Asia and the Middle East, while it will continue in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Luxembourg on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time.
Those who couldn’t vote during the designated period can cast their ballots at 46 customs gates until 5:00 p.m. on May 14.
Polls closed in Albania, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland as well as in the U.K.
Around 127,000 voters registered in the U.K. cast their votes at ballot boxes set up in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Leicester on April 29-May 7.
As many as seven polling stations were set up in the U.S. for April 29-May 7 at diplomatic missions, including the Turkish Embassy in Washington, and consulates in New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami and Los Angeles.
Also, some 1,392 registered voters in South Africa cast their votes in Pretoria and Cape Town on May 6-7.
Moreover, polls were open for some 8,336 other voters registered in Lebanon, and 5,088 more in Israel, while a total of 460 voters cast their ballots in Iran.
Half of the 2,280 eligible Turks in Algeria turned out for voting between May 5-7, according to the Turkish Embassy in the country.
Meanwhile over 20 stations were made available for more than 20,000 registered voters combined in Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
As of Sunday, over 1.6 million Turkish citizens abroad had cast their votes to elect the country's new president and parliamentary representatives, according to the Supreme Election Council (YSK).
Overseas voting has hit a record-breaking high of 1,556,469 for this year’s polls, exceeding the 2018 election figures.
Germany houses the highest number of Turkish voters outside of Türkiye with 1,501,152 people, followed by France and the Netherlands with 397,086 and 2,86,753 each.
Voting in Türkiye itself for some 61 million citizens will take place on May 14, with a possible May 28 run-off.
Citizens will choose between four presidential hopefuls: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is seeking reelection; and main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, along with Muharrem İnce and Sinan Oğan.
Meanwhile, 24 political parties and 151 independent candidates are vying for seats in the 600-member Parliament.
Once the overseas process is completed, ballots will be brought to Türkiye via diplomatic couriers and methods determined by the YSK under maximum security measures to be kept safe in the capital Ankara.
The boxes will be opened at 5 p.m. after voting ends in Türkiye, and counting will be undertaken under the supervision of the Directorate of Foreign Provincial Election Council.
In the presidential election, votes cast overseas directly add to the total percentage of votes candidates garner in Türkiye.
In the parliamentary election, overseas votes are distributed proportionately to constituencies countrywide according to the number of voters and the ballots parties receive in each province.
