Early voting ends at Turkish diplomatic missions abroad

Istanbul, May 25 (IANS) Early voting at diplomatic missions has come to an end, four days before Turkey's runoff presidential election.

While Turkey's more than 60 million eligible domestic voters will be heading to the polls again this Sunday, its 3.4 million voters living abroad began casting their early votes at diplomatic missions in over 70 countries starting May 20.

The semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday that more than 1.5 million people had already cast their ballots at diplomatic missions one day before the polls closed.

The second-round runoff was scheduled after none of the candidates secured the majority needed for an outright victory during the first round in May, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the first round of the presidential election, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earned 49.52 per cent of the vote while his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, received 44.88 per cent. Meanwhile, a third candidate, nationalist politician Sinan Ogan, gained 5.17 per cent.

Even though polls closed at diplomatic missions on Wednesday, Turks living abroad can still cast their votes upon arrival or departure at points of entry until the evening of election day.

--IANS

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