Presidential and parliamentary elections will take place in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan on 14 May. Voting in Germany began on Thursday, while in Switzerland citizens can vote between 29 and 7 May. There are 105,821 people who can exercise their vote in 42 ballot boxes in Bern, Geneva and Zurich.

Composition of the electorate

Most of the 105,821 registered voters (13,419) come from the northern Kurdish province of Maraş. The rest come from Istanbul, Konya, Erzincan, Adiyaman and Denizli. Just 25 people come from Hakkari. In Zurich, where 12 ballot boxes will be open on weekdays and 14 on weekends, the number of registered voters is 69,141. In Bern and Geneva, three ballot boxes will be open on weekdays and five on weekends. 200 observers from the Green Left Party (YSP) will monitor the course of the elections.

Highest possible turnout should be ensured

The opposition Alliance for Work and Freedom continues to work to ensure a high turnout. The number of registered voters in Switzerland was 98,929 in the 2018 elections, and the turnout was 49.5 percent. In the 2018 election, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) received the highest share of the vote with 19,683 votes. In the current elections, the number of registered voters has increased by 14 percent. The goal of the Green Left Party is to increase its share of the vote in this election. Transports are organized in Basel, Solothurn, Lucerne, Aarau, St.Gallen, Freiburg, Biel, Lausanne and Winterthur to take the voters to the polls. The vehicles will leave from the Kurdish community centers and transport voters from different cantons to the polling stations. Alevi associations in Switzerland also support voter transport. The members of the Alliance for Work and Freedom are also calling for voters to go to the polls.

"We will ensure transport for voters"

Hüseyin Torun, a member of the Lausanne Election Coordination, said that they began working for the elections months ago, when there were rumors that they could take place in March. "After the election date was determined, we accelerated our work," Torun said.

Voters in the region of Lausanne will have to cast their vote in Geneva. Therefore, said Torun, they formed "city, regional and neighborhood commissions to ensure voters could actually reach the polling station. In the first place, we directed the newly arrived people from the country and those whose registrations were canceled for various reasons to the consulates. We opened our election office. We held public meetings, tradesmen and family visits. We distributed brochures, flyers and posters. After this stage, our main responsibility will be to ensure transport for all the people we can reach. We also have worked to get as many vehicles as possible."

Meetings with residents and tradesmen

Green Left Party volunteers continue canvassing in Geneva as in every canton. Volunteers visit tradesmen and coffee houses and deliver brochures.