How Elections Work in Turkey: Voting, Seats and the Count
Who votes in Türkiye, how a polling station works from ID check to signed count sheet, how 600 seats are shared, and how the president is chosen.
Table of Contents
Turkish citizens aged 18 or over vote at a ballot box (sandık) near their registered home address, once for each kind of election. The president and the 600 members of the Grand National Assembly are chosen together every five years, and local elections choose mayors, councils and the muhtar, the elected head of a neighbourhood or village, every five years too. Voting normally runs from 08:00 to 17:00, the count is public, and every box ends with a signed result sheet.
In short · checked 27.10.2026
Turkish citizens on the voter list vote, at one named ballot box.
- Who votes. Turkish citizens aged 18 or over who are on the voter list (seçmen kütüğü, the register of voters and their home addresses).
- Who does not. Foreign nationals, holders of the Mavi Kart (the card for people born Turkish who left the citizenship with permission), and the groups listed in chapter 01.
- One box, one vote. Each voter has one ballot box and votes only there, once for each kind of election, between 08:00 and 17:00.
- Seats. The 600 seats are shared by dividing each list’s votes by 1, 2, 3 …, and a list needs 7 % of the valid votes nationwide to take part.
Can you vote?
Turkish citizen, 18 or over
Yes, on the voter list
You vote at the ballot box named on the voter list for your home address. If you turn 18 on or before election day, you are put on the list.
Living in Türkiye as a foreign national
No
The right to vote belongs to Turkish citizens. A foreign national is not on the voter list.
Holder of the Mavi Kart
No
The Mavi Kart is a card for people who were born Turkish citizens and left the citizenship with the state’s permission. It keeps most civil rights, but not the right to vote or to stand in elections.
Military service or prison
Not while it lasts
Privates and corporals at arms, military students and people serving a prison sentence do not vote. People convicted of negligent offences are the exception.
Turkish citizen living abroad
Yes, on the abroad voter list
Citizens abroad vote in Assembly elections, the presidential election and referendums, at an embassy or consulate, at a customs gate, or electronically, as the Supreme Election Council decides for each election. Chapter 08 has the steps.
Tool · rules checked 27.10.2026
The ballot box evening
Walk through one classroom polling station from the sealed box to the signed sheet, then try where a stamp may go on an invented ballot paper.
Before 08:00 · the chair and the committee
The box is sealed
Before voting starts, the chair (sandık kurulu başkanı) shows the transparent box is empty in front of the committee and the observers, closes it and seals it so it cannot be opened without breaking the seal. The committee also stamps each ballot paper with its own seal.
At the table · the chair
ID check
Voters come to the table one at a time. The chair takes the ID and finds the name on the list of this box (sandık seçmen listesi). Accepted: the ID card or another state document with the Turkish identity number. Papers made by a municipality or a muhtar do not count.
At the table · the chair
One paper in hand
The chair hands over one combined ballot paper (birleşik oy pusulası: a single sheet with every list on it), says which booth to use and how to fold and glue it. Pregnant, sick and disabled voters are not kept waiting.
In the booth · you alone
Stamp, fold, glue
In the closed booth (kapalı oy verme yeri) no one else may enter. Stamp the area of one list with the stamp (mühür), fold the paper and glue its gummed edge yourself. Phones and cameras stay switched off with the chair.
At the box · you
Into the box
Leave the booth and put the folded paper into the transparent box yourself. Nobody may tell you how to vote, and nobody may stay at the box after voting.
At the table · the chair
Signature and ID back
The chair gives the ID back and has you sign next to your name on the list. A voter who cannot sign leaves a left thumbprint instead.
From 17:00 · everyone present
The count and the sheet
The box is opened in front of everyone, the envelopes are counted aloud and every paper is read aloud. The committee writes the result sheet (sandık sonuç tutanağı), signs it and stamps it. Chapter 04 has the steps.
ÖRNEKTİR
| Where the stamp is | The paper | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Inside B | Counts for B | One stamp inside the area of one list counts for that list. |
| Inside D, a stain | Counts for D | A stain does not void a paper when nothing shows it was made as a special mark. |
| Two stamps in C | Counts for C | Several stamps inside the area of the same list still count for that list. |
| Touching the double line | Counts for A | A stamp inside one list’s area that only reaches the double line between two areas counts for that list. |
| Across B and C | Void | A stamp that spills over into the areas of more than one list voids the paper. |
| Stamps in A and D | Void | Stamps in the areas of more than one list void the paper. |
| No stamp | Void | A paper with no stamp anywhere is void. |
| A name beside the stamp | Void | A name, signature, writing or any other mark besides the «EVET» stamp voids the paper. |
Take with you
- Bring a state document with your Turkish identity number, such as the ID card. The Supreme Election Council names the accepted documents at the start of each election. The voter information slip is not an ID.
- Find your box on the voter information slip. The lists also hang at the muhtar’s office (muhtarlık), and the muhtar answers questions about your box until 17:00 on voting day.
- Oy kullanacağım sandığı öğrenmek istiyorum.I want to find out which ballot box I vote at.
- Seçmen bilgi kâğıdım yanımda.I have my voter information slip.
- Kimliğim yanımda.I have my ID with me.
Who votes, and who does not
The right to vote belongs to Turkish citizens aged 18 or over. When the lists are made in an election year, the 18th birthday counts up to and including election day.
- Turkish citizens aged 18 or over. They vote at the box named on their voter list, abroad too (chapter 08).
- Foreign nationals. The right to vote belongs to Turkish citizens only.
- Holders of the Mavi Kart. The card keeps most civil rights of a citizen for people born Turkish who left the citizenship with permission, and for their descendants to the third degree. The right to vote and to stand is not one of them.
- Soldiers and military students. Privates and corporals at arms, even on leave, and military students do not vote.
- Prisoners. People serving a sentence in a penal institution do not vote. People convicted of negligent offences are the exception.
Member of parliament
A Turkish citizen over 18 who has finished primary school and has done military service or is exempt or deferred. People deprived of legal capacity, banned from public service or convicted of the offences the Constitution lists are not eligible. Judges, prosecutors, lecturers at higher education institutions, civil servants and members of the armed forces can stand only after they resign.
Over 40
Over 40, with higher education, and eligible to be a member of parliament. Chapter 06 has who may nominate.
Mayor, council, muhtar
Mayor and councils: Turkish citizens over 18 who meet the conditions of the election law. Muhtar and elders: over 18, able to read and write, and living in the neighbourhood or village for at least six months.
Sources: The Constitution · Election laws (TBMM compilation) · NVİ Mavi Kart · checked 27.10.2026
The voter list and your ballot box
Every voter has one ballot box, named on the voter list for their home address. The voter information slip (seçmen bilgi kâğıdı) tells which one. It is not an ID.
- Your home addressThe voter register is built from the residence address in the address registration system (adres kayıt sistemi, the central electronic file of addresses) and renewed every year.
- A list for each box120 days before voting the lists of the ballot boxes (sandık seçmen listesi) are drawn from the register: the voters who live in each box’s area, in alphabetical order.
- Posted and open to readThe neighbourhood list (askı listesi) hangs for two weeks so that mistakes can be corrected, and citizens may look at the lists at the muhtarlık, the office of the elected neighbourhood or village head, at any time.
- The voter information slipEach voter gets a slip, sent or handed out, that names the district and the ballot-box number. The slip says on it that it is not an ID.
- QuestionsFrom 10 days before voting until 17:00 on voting day the muhtar answers voters’ questions about their box and where it is.
One voter, one box
- On the list
- The voter’s name, parents’ names, birth year, birth district and home address. A voter whose details are incomplete is not written on a box list until they are completed.
- Only there
- A voter votes only at the box of their own list, once for each kind of election. A voter who is not written on the box’s list cannot vote there, with the exceptions the law names.
- After voting
- Nobody stays at the box after voting, except committee members, police on duty, and members of parliament and candidates.
How an address is written and registered: Turkish Address Format.
Sources: Election laws (TBMM compilation) · NVİ Adres Kayıt Sistemi · checked 27.10.2026
Election day at the ballot box
Voting runs from 08:00 to 17:00. A committee of seven people runs each box. The voter shows ID, takes one ballot paper, stamps it alone in a booth, folds and glues it, and puts it in the transparent box.
Seven people
A chair, who is a public servant picked by lot, and six members: five named by political parties and one more public servant picked by lot. Six substitutes stand ready. Each party and each independent candidate may send one observer (müşahit).
The Turkish number
The ID card or another state document that carries the Turkish identity number; the Supreme Election Council names the accepted documents at the start of each election. A document without the number is accepted only together with the voter information slip or another document the Council names.
One helper, one person
A blind, paralysed or visibly disabled voter may take a relative on the same list as helper, or another voter if there is no relative, and a helper helps one person only. Pregnant, sick and disabled voters are not kept waiting, and older voters may be taken first.
Alone, no phone
Phones and cameras are switched off and handed to the chair, and returned after voting. Nobody enters the booth while a voter is in it, and nobody may influence a voter at the box.
What a voter handles
- The paper
- One combined ballot paper (birleşik oy pusulası) per election: a single sheet with every list on it and the Supreme Election Council’s watermark. Folded and glued along its gummed edge, it becomes its own envelope. When the president and the Assembly are elected together, both papers go in one envelope.
- The stamp
- The law calls it the «EVET» stamp (mühür; evet means yes). The voter stamps the area of one list.
- The box
- Transparent hard plastic, 40 × 55 × 50 cm, with a slit in the lid.
- The hours
- 08:00 to 17:00. Voters already in the queue at 17:00 still vote. The Council may change the hours with a week’s notice.
Around voting day
- Quiet on air. On voting day, until 18:00, radios and every other kind of broadcaster may not carry news, forecasts or comment about the election and its results. From 18:00 to 21:00 only the news and announcements the Supreme Election Council issues about the election may be broadcast, on radio. After 21:00 all broadcasts are free.
- Venues closed. Entertainment venues stay closed during the voting hours.
- No weapons. On voting day nobody except those charged with security and order may carry a weapon in villages, towns and cities.
Sources: Election laws (TBMM compilation) · checked 27.10.2026
After 17:00: the public count and the signed sheet
The count happens in the same room, in public, as soon as voting ends. Each box produces a result sheet (sandık sonuç tutanağı) that the committee signs. The Constitution puts elections under the general administration and supervision of the judicial organs.
- Voting endsThe box is not opened before 17:00 unless the Council sets another time. The chair announces the end aloud and the time is written down. The signatures and thumbprints on the list are counted to find how many people voted.
- Unused papersUnused ballot papers and envelopes are counted and sealed in a packet.
- The box is openedThe chair opens it in front of everyone present. The envelopes are counted aloud twice, and a third time if the two counts differ.
- Papers are checkedEach paper is checked for validity. Void papers and papers objected to are set aside, the committee decides on the ones objected to, and the numbers of valid and void papers are written on the sheet.
- Papers are readThe tally sheets are shown blank first. The chair reads each paper aloud for everyone to hear, and two members mark the tally. A complaint does not stop the count.
- The result sheetIt is made in two copies for each kind of election, signed by the chair and the members and stamped. A certified copy is pinned up for a week, and the observers may ask for copies.
Does a paper count?
A paper is void when
- No stamp anywhere on it, or «EVET» stamps in the areas of more than one list.
- A stamp spills over into the areas of more than one list.
- Another mark: a name, signature stamp, seal or fingerprint in place of or besides the «EVET» stamp, or writing, letters, numbers or drawings that were not printed on it.
- A list’s area clearly scrawled, drawn on or marked on purpose.
- Not the right paper: not the committee’s kind, without the Council’s watermark on the back, or made for another district.
- Torn so that it is no longer whole.
A paper still counts when
- Several stamps sit inside the area of one list and none reaches another list’s area.
- The stamp only reaches the double line between two areas.
- A stain is there but nothing shows it was made as a special mark.
- The committee’s seal from the back came through to other parts of the paper when it was folded.
- The back was not sealed through the committee’s neglect, and the paper carries the Council’s watermark.
- It tore while the envelopes were opened or the votes read, or a part tore by accident without breaking the whole.
From the box to the national result
The result sheets of the boxes go to the district election board and the provincial election board. The Supreme Election Council sits at the top.
- Members
- Seven regular and four substitute members: six chosen by the General Board of the High Court of Appeals (Yargıtay) and five by the General Board of the Council of State (Danıştay), from among their own members.
- Job
- It carries out the functions that keep an election fair and orderly from start to finish, and takes the final decisions on irregularities, complaints and objections.
- Appeals
- No appeal lies to any authority against its decisions.
Sources: Election laws (TBMM compilation) · The Constitution · checked 27.10.2026
How the 600 seats are shared
Voters choose a list in their district. Each district gets a number of seats by population, and Law 2839 shares them among the lists by dividing each list’s votes by 1, 2, 3 …. Only lists that pass 7 % of the valid votes nationwide take part.
- Seats by districtThere are 600 seats. Each province gets one seat first and the rest are shared by population. A province with up to 18 seats is one district, one with 19 to 35 seats is two, and one with 36 or more is three.
- The 7 % testA list that does not reach 7 % of the valid votes in the whole country takes no seat. Parties in an alliance (ittifak) are tested together: the alliance’s votes are added up. An independent candidate on a party’s list is elected only if that party passes.
- DivisionIn a district the votes of every list that passes are divided by 1, then 2, then 3 …, up to the number of seats. The highest of these numbers take the seats, one each. A tie for the last seat is decided by lot.
- Inside a listThe seats of a list go to its candidates in the order of the list.
One invented district, eight seats. Which rule?
The 7 % test applies
List D is under the line
D has 5 % nationwide, so it takes no part in the division, although it has 1300 votes in this district. A, B and C share the eight seats.
ÖRNEKTİR
| List | Votes | ÷1 | ÷2 | ÷3 | ÷4 | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4000 | 14000 | 42000 | 61333 | 1000 | 3 |
| B | 3200 | 23200 | 51600 | 71067 | 800 | 3 |
| C | 2100 | 32100 | 81050 | 700 | 525 | 2 |
| D | 1300 | – | – | – | – | 0 |
C and D run as an alliance
D is tested with C
The alliance has 27 % nationwide, so it passes the test. Seats are still worked out from each party’s own votes, and D wins one.
ÖRNEKTİR
| List | Votes | ÷1 | ÷2 | ÷3 | ÷4 | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4000 | 14000 | 42000 | 61333 | 1000 | 3 |
| B | 3200 | 23200 | 51600 | 81067 | 800 | 3 |
| C | 2100 | 32100 | 1050 | 700 | 525 | 1 |
| D | 1300 | 71300 | 650 | 433 | 325 | 1 |
For comparison
Without the 7 % rule
All four lists would take part in the division. The same votes give D one seat.
ÖRNEKTİR
| List | Votes | ÷1 | ÷2 | ÷3 | ÷4 | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4000 | 14000 | 42000 | 61333 | 1000 | 3 |
| B | 3200 | 23200 | 51600 | 81067 | 800 | 3 |
| C | 2100 | 32100 | 1050 | 700 | 525 | 1 |
| D | 1300 | 71300 | 650 | 433 | 325 | 1 |
The lists, votes and shares are invented to show the method. The numbers in each cell are the list’s votes divided by 1, 2, 3 and 4; the shaded ones, numbered 1 to 8, are the eight highest.
The rule in one line
7 % nationwide, then division by 1, 2, 3 …
The threshold and the alliance rule are worded by Law 7102 of 2018 and Law 7393 of 2022; Law 2839 shares the seats by division, the method known as d’Hondt.
- Alliances. Parties may run in an alliance and each submits its own list. The alliance protocol goes to the Council within seven days of the start of the election period, which begins 60 days before voting day.
- The aim. The Constitution says the electoral laws «shall be drawn up so as to reconcile the principles of fair representation and stability of government».
- Changes. Amendments to the electoral laws do not apply to an election held within one year of their entry into force.
Sources: Election laws (TBMM compilation) · The Constitution · checked 27.10.2026
The president
The president is elected directly by the voters, on the same day as the Assembly. A candidate needs more than half of the valid votes. If nobody gets that, the two candidates with the most votes meet again on the second Sunday after.
Term and nomination
- Term
- Five years, and at most two terms.
- Renewed elections
- The Constitution (art. 116) says: «If the Assembly decides to renew the elections during the second term of the President of the Republic, he/she may once again be a candidate.»
- May stand
- Over 40, with higher education, and eligible to be a member of parliament.
- Nominated by
- Party groups, parties that won at least 5 % of the valid votes in the latest parliamentary election (alone or together), or at least 100,000 voters.
- The count
- When the election is held together with the Assembly election, the president’s papers are counted first.
- First roundA candidate who receives the absolute majority of the valid votes, more than half, is elected.
- Second roundIf nobody does, the two candidates with the most votes meet on the second Sunday after the first round. The one who receives the majority of the valid votes is elected.
- If a finalist drops outThe vacant place goes to the next candidate in the first-round ranking. Replacing is possible until 17:00 on the day after the provisional results.
- Only one candidateThe second round is then held as a referendum: a vote on that candidate alone. If the candidate does not receive the majority of the valid votes, only the presidential election is renewed.
Sources: The Constitution · Election laws (TBMM compilation) · more on the powers of the office: The Turkish Constitution · checked 27.10.2026
Local elections and the muhtar
Every five years, on the last Sunday of March of the fifth year, voters elect their mayor, the municipal council, the provincial general council (il genel meclisi) and the muhtar. The ballots for all of them go into one envelope.
Belediye başkanı
The candidate with the most votes becomes mayor.
Belediye meclisi
A tenth of the district’s valid votes is taken off each list’s total, and a list left with nothing takes no seat. What is left is divided by 1, 2, 3 … to give the seats.
Muhtar and elders
The most votes win, and there is no candidacy procedure. A neighbourhood elects eight members of the council of elders (ihtiyar heyeti), and the four with the most votes are the regular members. A village elects 8, 10 or 12 by population, of whom the top 4, 5 or 6 are regular members.
The muhtar at election time
- Lists
- The muhtar’s office posts the neighbourhood voter list and lets citizens look at the lists of the boxes.
- Questions
- From 10 days before voting until 17:00 on voting day the muhtar answers voters’ questions about their ballot box and its place.
- The vote
- The muhtar’s ballot goes into the same envelope as the mayor’s and the councils’, in the same box.
The stamp in local elections reads «EVET» or «TERCİH» (preference).
Sources: Election laws (TBMM compilation) · The Constitution · checked 27.10.2026
Voting abroad
Turkish citizens abroad vote in Assembly elections, the presidential election and referendums. For each election the Supreme Election Council decides, with the Foreign Ministry’s opinion, which ways are open: a ballot box at an embassy or consulate, a ballot box at a customs gate, or electronic voting.
- The abroad registerCitizens abroad are written in a separate abroad voter register (yurt dışı seçmen kütüğü).
- At an embassy or consulateA ballot box from the 45th day before voting until 17:00 on the third day before, 08:00 to 17:00 local time. Some missions are open round the clock.
- At a customs gateA ballot box from 08:00 on the 45th day before voting until 17:00 on voting day. Some gates are open round the clock.
- ElectronicThe voting period starts 30 days before voting day and ends at 17:00 Türkiye time.
- ID. The ID card with the Turkish identity number, or a passport. The voter is checked on a central register.
- Lists. In Assembly elections, abroad voters vote for a party on the ballot.
- No campaigning abroad or at missions.
- The count. Votes cast abroad are counted from 17:00 on voting day at the Abroad District Election Board in Ankara.
Two pages on this site describe the Turkish communities in Germany and France.
Sources: Election laws (TBMM compilation) · checked 27.10.2026
Quick answers
Can a foreign resident vote?
No. The right to vote belongs to Turkish citizens, and the voter register holds only citizens.
Can a Mavi Kart holder vote?
No. The Mavi Kart keeps most civil rights for people born Turkish who left the citizenship with permission, but not the right to vote or to stand.
Which ID do I bring?
The ID card or another state document with the Turkish identity number. The Supreme Election Council names the accepted documents at the start of each election. Papers made by a municipality or a muhtar do not count. The voter information slip is not an ID.
Which is my ballot box?
The voter information slip names it. The lists also hang at the muhtarlık, and the muhtar answers questions until 17:00 on voting day.
What if my name is not on the box’s list?
You cannot vote at that box, except in the cases the law names. One case: a voter whose name is on the settled neighbourhood list but missing from the box list can be added by decision of the district election board chair.
Is voting compulsory?
The law provides a fine for a voter who is on the lists and does not take part in an Assembly general election or by-election without a legitimate excuse.
Can I watch the count?
Yes. The count is public, in front of those present at the voting place.
Who decides complaints?
The election boards, with the Supreme Election Council at the top. No appeal lies to any authority against the Council’s decisions.
Sources and limits
This page describes the rules; it is not legal advice.
Show the texts checked
- The Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye (English translation, May 2019) — Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, checked 27.10.2026
- Seçim Kanunları ve Siyasi Partiler Kanunu (January 2024 edition: Laws 298, 2839, 2972 and 6271 as amended, among them by Laws 7102 of 2018 and 7393 of 2022) — Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, checked 27.10.2026
- Mavi Kart — Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs, checked 27.10.2026
- Adres Kayıt Sistemi (AKS) — Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs, checked 27.10.2026
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, each with its author, date, licence and file page in the caption. Three pictures are drawings made for this page.