Turkey heads to polls in 26th general election

ANKARA

Voting in Turkey's 26th general election began at 8.00 a.m. local time on Sunday.

More than 54 million Turks are eligible to vote in a poll to elect 550 deputies to the Grand National Assembly.

A total of 175,006 polling stations countrywide will be open until 5.00pm local time. Nearly a million Turks living abroad have already cast their ballots at 113 embassies and consulates.

The electorate will be selecting a party, rather than a candidate, in 81 provinces - divided into 85 voting districts (Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir provinces have multiple districts) - across the country under the closed list proportional representation system.

The election will be overseen by observers from civil society groups and political parties as well as international monitors.

Of the 16 parties registered to contest the election, opinion polls suggest four parties could pass the 10 percent threshold to gain seats in the assembly.

Following the June 7 vote, the Justice and Development (AK) Party was returned as the largest party with 258 seats. The Republican People's Party (CHP) came second with 132 seats while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peoples' Democractic Party (HDP) won 80 seats each. A deputy from both the CHP and MHP have since become independents.

According to the Supreme Election Council, the percentage share of the national vote in June was 40.87 percent for the AK Party, 24.95 percent for the CHP, 16.29 percent for the MHP and 13.12 percent for the HDP. Turnout was 83.92 percent in Turkey and 32.5 percent among overseas voters.

Sunday’s vote is being held as no party won an overall majority and coalition talks failed to produce a government by the 45-day deadline initiated when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Prime MInister Ahmet Davutoglu to form a government on July 9.