Turkish local polls: Voting ends in 32 provinces

ANKARA

The voting ended in 32 out of 81 provinces across Turkey at 4 p.m. local time (1300GMT).

The voting started at 7 a.m. local time (0400GMT) in those 32 provinces.

In the remaining provinces, polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time (0500GMT) and will close at 5.00 p.m. local time (1400GMT).

A total of 12 political parties are competing in the local elections.

More than 44 million citizens are expected to vote at 142,777 polling stations in 30 biggest cities, called metropolitan municipalities.

Meanwhile, 12.8 million voters will vote at 51,851 polling stations across 51 provinces in Turkey.

Turkey is holding its first local elections under the new presidential system, adopted in the April 2017 referendum.

The previous local elections were held in 2014.