The votes cast by Turks abroad for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections next Sunday have exceeded the numbers of those in the 2018 elections.
According to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) numbers, 1,488,842 votes have been cast as of late Sunday at customs gates and representations abroad since April 27.
Among those registered in the foreign electoral roll, 1,358,584 people went to the polls for the 2018 elections.
Voting at foreign representations will end on May 9 and continue at customs gates until May 14 at 5:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT).
Some 3.41 million people are expected to cast their votes abroad, including nearly 278,000 young first-time voters.
Ahmet Burak Doğan, who cast his ballot in Serbia's capital Belgrade, said he had fulfilled his civic duty.
"I recommend everyone do this. Good luck for our country," said Doğan.
Ufuk Erarslan, who traveled over 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) to cast his vote, said he participated in the elections for a better future for his country.
"We will use our vote so that we have the right to criticize everything," he said.
Meanwhile, ballot boxes were set up for the first time in Slovakia. The procedure began at the embassy in Bratislava, with high participation.
Ambassador Yunus Demirer told Anadolu Agency (AA) that voters were greatly interested in the ballot.
"A lot of interest as soon as the voting hour arrived. We're very pleased with this. The tendency of our citizens abroad to vote more in each election and to participate more in political life is very pleasing for all of us," said Demirer.
Bahattin Demiral, who has been living in Slovakia for 28 years and came to the embassy to vote from a distance of 450 km, said he was delighted with the decision to open ballot boxes.
"The establishment of ballot boxes in Bratislava is great for the homeland," said Demiral.
The incumbent President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, garnered over 59% of the vote abroad, ahead of his rival, Muharrem Ince, who won only 25.8% in the 2018 elections. Most of the votes for both candidates were from Europe.
In the 2018 elections, Erdoğan received 64% of the votes in Germany, 63% in France, 72% in the Netherlands, 74% in Belgium and 71% in Austria.
Erdoğan's AK Party has been pursuing an intense election campaign abroad to attract voters, with lawmakers organizing campaign events.
The Supreme Election Council (YSK) has placed 4,671 polling stations on border gates for these voters. In addition, ballot boxes are set up for the first time in countries like Belarus, Brazil, Estonia, Morocco, Montenegro, the Republic of Korea, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Slovakia and Tanzania.
Once overseas voting ends, 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.
These boxes will be opened at 5:00 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.
