Turkish nationals living abroad will be able to cast their votes for the presidential and parliamentary elections in 74 countries at 177 representations on April 27-May 9.
Voters will be able to vote in 177 representative offices in 74 countries until May 9 between 9 am and 9 pm local time on weekdays and weekends, according to Türkiye’s Supreme Election Council.
In cities with Turkish consulate generals, voting will be held between 9 am and 6 pm local time.
Also, voters will be able to vote at any of the designated representative offices or customs gates where ballot boxes are set, without an appointment for the process.
In case none of the candidates secures more than 50 percent of the vote, balloting will be held for a possible runoff, set for May 28, on May 20-24 at the specified representative offices.
Voting will be held in 26 representative offices in Germany, and nine representative offices in the US and France.
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How important is the Turkish diaspora in upcoming elections?
Around 6.5 million Turks live in other countries. Among them, 3.28 million are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary election.
Compared to the 60.9 million registered voters within Türkiye, the diaspora vote might appear to be minuscule. But in a tight race where every vote counts, their stamp of approval can have a decisive impact, as seen in the 2018 election that resulted in Erdogan’s victory.
A majority of the Turkish diaspora lives in Western Europe, where Turkish workers settled in the 1960s as part of the post-World War II reconstruction programme. They make up the single-largest Muslim immigrant group in Western Europe.
Expatriate Turks cast their votes in the national election for the first time during the August 2014 presidential election with Erdogan winning with 5.72 percent of votes.
As per the law, every expat over 18 and listed on the electoral roll maintained at the population registration offices or the diplomatic missions is eligible to cast a vote.
With over 1.4 million registered diaspora voters, Germany tops the list of countries where Turkish politics will play out at a fever-pitch, followed by France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
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