Broadcasting ban lifted on election results in Türkiye

By Burak Bir and Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) — A broadcasting ban on Türkiye's presidential and parliamentary polls results was lifted Sunday by the country's top election body.

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) lifted the ban as of 6.30 p.m. local time (1530GMT), YSK chairman Ahmet Yener told reporters in the capital Ankara.

Voting wrapped up without incident across the country, he said, about 90 minutes after polling ended at 5 p.m.

More than 64.1 million people were registered to vote, including over 1.76 million who cast their ballots abroad and 4.9 million first-time voters.

A total of 191,885 ballot boxes were set up across the country.

Every voter cast two ballots, one for the president and the other for parliamentarians, both of whom will serve five-year terms.

Ballot counting has begun to determine the outcome of a three-way race between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and Sinan Ogan.

Muharrem Ince, another presidential contender, withdrew on Thursday.

More than 30 political parties and over 150 independent parliamentary candidates competed in the elections.

There were five multiparty blocs in the running: the People's Alliance, Nation Alliance, Ancestral Alliance, Labor and Freedom Alliance, and Union of Socialist Forces Alliance.