Overseas voting for the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on 14 May in Turkey and North Kurdistan continues. The voting in Switzerland began on April 29 and ended yesterday (Sunday) at 21:00. In the cities of Zurich, Bern and Geneva, out of 105,821 registered voters, 60,049 cast their votes for 9 days. Except for the votes at the customs, the electoral turnout stood at 56.74 percent. Registered voters in Switzerland can vote in neighbouring countries such as Germany, Austria and France until May 9 or at customs until April 14.

ELECTORAL TURNOUT SURPASSED THE 2018 ELECTIONS

The electoral turnout ended up high in Switzerland. While the turnout in the 2018 elections stood at 49.4 percent including the customs votes, it rose to 56.74 percent this year, excluding the customs votes. It is difficult to estimate how many of the registered voters in Switzerland cast their votes, since there is no obligation for voters to cast their votes in their country of residence. Most of the voters in Ticono, an Italian canton of Switzerland, went to the polling stations in Milan by bus and private vehicles. While some voters in the cities of Chur and St. Gallen preferred to go to Austria, those in the canton of Basel preferred to go to the polling stations in Mulhaus, France, since the city is closer to them.

GENEVA

Most of the voters registered in France voted in Geneva. The number of those who cast their votes was reported to be 13 thousand 484 in Geneva, where 13,448 voters were registered, and the electoral turnout stood at 100.26 percent. It is reported that voters living in the border cities of Germany also voted in the city of Zurich.

CENCORSHIP ON KURDISH PRESS

The voting process in Switzerland was generally uneventful, except for one or two individual incidents where ultra-nationalist individuals did the Grey Wolf sign and shouted slogans in front of some polling stations. On the other hand, the Turkish Embassy in Switzerland maintained its hostile attitude towards the Kurdish press continued. The Press Office, run by Bayram Altuğ, who previously served as the Geneva correspondent for the state-run Anadolu News Agency, left the request of journalists who wanted to follow the elections unanswered. While it is clear in the law that members of the press are granted the right to follow the voting process without obtaining permission, photos of Kurdish journalist Erdoğan Zamur were handed over to the Zurich Cantonal police and Zamur was prevented from entering the polling station.

VOTES WILL BE SENT TO TURKEY ON TUESDAY

Votes cast in Switzerland will be sent to Turkey on Tuesday by a private cargo plane from Munich, Germany. Green Left Party officials stated that they expected to be the first party in Switzerland, adding that more than half of the votes would turn out to be for the Green Left Party in this election.

GENERAL STATISTICS

Switzerland General

Number of registered voters: 105.821

Votes cast: 60,048

Electoral turnout: 56.74 %

Zurich

Number of registered voters: 69,141

Votes cast: 34,514

Electoral turnout: 49.91 %

Geneva

Number of registered voters: 13,448

Votes cast: 13,484

Electoral turnout: 100.26 %

Bern

Number of registered voters: 23,232

Votes cast: 12,051

Electoral turnout: 51.87 %