More than 1.8 million Turkish voters have cast their votes abroad for the country's May 14 elections, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Yasin Ekrem Serim said on Tuesday.
"Compared to previous elections, we reached a record number of participation abroad," said Serim in a statement on Facebook.
Thanking all participants, Serim announced that the voting process has been completed in the ballot boxes opened in Türkiye's Embassies and representative offices abroad.
Noting that the votes cast abroad were brought to the country by strict security measures through diplomatic couriers, Serim said the voting will continue at customs gates until 5 p.m. local time on May 14.
Since overseas voting began on April 27, 1,817,010 people voted at Turkish diplomatic missions abroad and customs gates as of 11 p.m. local time on Tuesday. This corresponds to 53.18 % of all voters abroad (3,416,150).
Turkish expats cast their votes in 151 representative offices and 16 centers in 73 countries. Turkish nationals living abroad can vote in the elections and referendums held in Türkiye, thanks to a legal amendment made in the legislation in 2012.
In Türkiye, the polls will take place on Sunday, May 14. On the presidential ballot, voters will choose between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is seeking reelection, main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Muharrem Ince and Sinan Oğan.
Meanwhile, 24 political parties and 151 independent candidates are vying for seats in the 600-member Turkish Parliament.
The ballots abroad are being brought to Türkiye via diplomatic couriers and methods determined by the Supreme Election Council (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 on May 14 across Türkiye. Counting these votes will be done 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 the 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.