Portable ballot boxes go to sickly, elderly voters in Turkey elections for the first time

In an unprecedented move, “portable ballot boxes” found their way to the homes of the sickly and elderly in Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections being held on Sunday.

With the introduction of portable ballot boxes, disabled, sickly and elderly voters were able to cast their votes in the comfort of their homes with the help of officers of the election board. Over17,000 voters registered for services of mobile ballot boxes, after complying with requirements of the Supreme Election Council.

The voters had to present a medical report explaining their reason for being unable to come to polling stations.

Grateful citizens, who conveyed their previous hardships in elections, thanked officials for the portable ballot box system.

Six candidates are running for president: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the alliance (People’s Alliance) formed by Turkey’s ruling AK Party and the MHP, Muharrem Ince for CHP, Selahattin Demirtas for HDP, Meral Aksener for the Good (IYI) Party, Temel Karamollaoglu for the Felicity (Saadet) Party, and Dogu Perinçek for the Patriotic (Vatan) Party.

In April, Parliament passed a bill calling for early elections on June 24, cementing Turkey’s move from a parliamentary to a presidential system. In an April 2017 referendum, Turkish voters approved the switch.

Under the changes, the number of lawmakers in parliament rises from 550 to 600, presidential and parliamentary elections will be held every five years, and presidents can retain ties to their political party. The prime minister post is also abolished.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has served as president since 2014, and is Turkey's first popularly-elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014.

Erdoğan would be Turkey's first leader to rule under the presidential system should he win the election.