Turkish bar association: Electoral board violated law during referendum

A last-minute decision was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results, Turkey's bar association said
Tuesday, 18 April 2017 16:19

A last-minute decision by the YSK electoral board to allow unstamped ballots in Sunday's presidential referendum was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results, Turkey's bar association said.

"With this illegal decision, ballot box councils were misled into believing that the use of unstamped ballots was appropriate. The YSK announcement, which is clearly against the law, has led to irregularities, and the prevention of records that could uncover irregularities from being kept, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) said in a statement released late on Monday.

"Our regret is not over the outcome of the referendum, but because of the desire to overlook clear and harsh violations of the law that have the potential to impact the results," it said.

An Austrian member of the Council of Europe observer mission said up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated, almost double the margin of Erdogan's victory, and that the YSK decision on unstamped ballots appeared illegal.

The YSK has also decided to annul elections in the past because of unstamped ballots. It cancelled the results of local elections in two districts in southeastern Turkey in April 2014 and re-held them two months later.