Electoral system of Turkey

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The electoral system of Turkey varies for general, presidential and local elections that take place in Turkey every five years. Turkey has been a multi-party democracy since 1950 (officially since 1945), with the first democratic election held on 14 May 1950 leading to the end of the single-party rule established in 1923. The current electoral system for electing Members of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly has a 7% election threshold.

Contents

A brief summary of the electoral systems used for each type of election is as follows:

General elections

The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey (Yuksek Secim Kurulu) oversees the distribution of parliamentary seats per electoral district Logo of Supreme Electoral Council of Republic of Turkey.jpg
The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey (Yüksek Seçim Kurulu) oversees the distribution of parliamentary seats per electoral district

Turkey elects 600 Members of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly using the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system. In order to return MPs to parliament, a party needs to gain more than 7% of the vote nationwide by itself or by being a member of an electoral alliance whose aggregate votes passes the said threshold. This means that parties may win the most votes in certain areas but not win any MPs due to a low result overall. The parliamentary threshold, which stayed as high as 10% between 1982 and 2022, has been subject to intense scrutiny by opposition members, since all votes cast for parties polling under 10% are spoilt and allow the parties overcoming the national threshold to win more seats than correspond to their share of votes. E.g. in the 2002 general election the AK Party won 34.28% of the vote but won nearly two-thirds of the seats.

The parliamentary threshold does not apply to independents, meaning that Kurdish nationalist politicians who poll strongly in the south-east but are not able to win 10% of the overall vote stand as independents rather than as a party candidate. This was the case in the 2007 and 2011 general election, where the Kurdish Democratic Society Party and the Peace and Democracy Party fielded independent candidates respectively.

Ahead of the 2018 general election, Electoral System was altered to accommodate for election alliances, allowing parties to enter elections as coalitions of multiple parties, where as long as the aggregate votes of the alliance passes the electoral threshold the threshold is ignored for the parties within the coalition, effectively opening a way for parties to bypass the electoral threshold. Effects of the change was first observed in the same elections, where Good Party, despite its 9.96% votes laying below the then 10% threshold, was able to enter the parliament due to being part of the larger Nation Alliance, whose total vote was 33.95%.

While initially the D'Hondt method was applied proportionally to all alliance members, a bill overseeing alterations to the election law passed on 31 March 2022 changed the system so that each party that passes the new 7% threshold either by itself or by being a member of an electoral alliance are directly represented by its own votes in each constituency when the calculations of D'Hondt are being made, disallowing smaller members of an electoral alliance from gaining MPs in the strongholds of their larger allies' strongholds due to their overall percentage contribution to the alliance. [1]

Proposals for reform

The main criticism of the current system has long been the unusually high 10% threshold necessary to gain seats. In January 2015, the CHP renewed their parliamentary proposals to lower the threshold to 3% and proposed no changes to the proportional representation system, though the AK Party has been against lowering the threshold without wider electoral reform. [2] [3]

In July 2013, the AK Party prepared new proposals, named the 'narrow district system' (daraltılmış bölge sistemi), to change the proportional representation system into either a first-past-the-post system or create smaller constituencies which elect a fewer number of MPs. [4] Under these proposals, the threshold would fall from 10% to either 7 or 8% while Turkey would be split into 129 electoral districts rather than the existing 85. [5] [6] Istanbul itself would have been split into 17 or 20 districts. [5] The system will benefit the largest party as well as parties that are the strongest in certain regions, meaning that the AK Party and Kurdish nationalist Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) would make the biggest gains. The two main opposition parties CHP and MHP do not have a substantial number of electoral strongholds, meaning that they would be negatively impacted by a narrow-district system. [4] Proposals by the AK Party to create a full first-past-the-post system with 550 single-member constituencies were allegedly unveiled in December 2014, though any change in electoral law would have to be passed by parliament at least a year before the election. [7] The AKP's proposals for reform have raised concerns about gerrymandering. [5]

Criticisms regarding the high threshold were largely relieved upon the electoral alliance system was adopted, allowing smaller parties to pass the threshold as a member of a larger alliance. Nevertheless, the current 7% threshold is still considerably high, blocking the path of small parties such as Patriotic Party that cannot make their way into a larger alliance. Moreover, the need for a threshold remains to be questionable ever since the presidential elections were split from parliamentary elections since 2018.

Electoral districts

Turkey is split into 87 electoral districts, which elect a certain number of Members to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The Grand National Assembly has a total of 600 seats (increased from 550 seats after 2017 constitutional reforms) a, which each electoral district allocated a certain number of MPs in proportion to their population. The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey conducts population reviews of each district before the election and can increase or decrease a district's number of seats according to their electorate.

Chronological table

Number of parliamentary constituencies by province and year
Election
year
20th century21st century
'20 '23 '27 '31 '35 '39 '43 '46 '50 '54 '57 '61 '65 '69 '73 '77 '83 '87 '91 '95 '99 '02 '07 '11 '15 '15 '18 '23
#Total436333335348444470492503477537602450450450450450400450450550550550550550550550600600
Province
1 Adana 734481110101113161213131314121414171414141414141515
2 Adıyaman 544444444565555555
3 Afyonkarahisar 86677888991077776566777755566
4 Ağrı 5233443334533344444545544444
68 Aksaray [n 1] 3343444433344
5 Amasya 7433334445644454443443333333
6 Ankara 97811151615181821222121242629232623282829293132323636
7 Antalya 6455888779977777789101213131414141617
75 Ardahan [n 2] 23222222222
8 Artvin 1221044555533333332322222222
9 Aydın 76567898581088777676888877788
10 Balikesir 6810101212131412141511111099787998888899
74 Bartın 2322222222
72 Batman 3444444455
Batum [n 3] 5
69 Bayburt 2222212211
Biga [n 4] 33
11 Bilecik 5543355334422222222222222222
12 Bingöl [n 5] 6222223322222333333333333
13 Bitlis 72322322322222333444433333
14 Bolu 85661088878866555555653333333
15 Burdur 7222434334433332333333333333
16 Bursa 7699121212131113141111111111101112141616161818182020
17 Çanakkale 45566678855554444544444444
18 Çankırı 7444866556644433333333322222
Çatalca [n 6] 1
19 Çorum 76567898891077776565655544444
20 Denizli 65668910879977766566777777787
21 Diyarbakır 7764886778977777788101110101111111212
81 Düzce 3333333
22 Edirne 5344465556654444444444433344
23 Elazığ 7677655555655555454555554455
Ergani [n 7] 113
24 Erzincan 5333475755644433333433322222
25 Erzurum 1077712961110121399998777887766666
26 Eskişehir 7444555767866665555666666676
26 Gaziantep 6565107877810777887899910101212121414
Gelibolu [n 8] 11
28 Giresun 555779988866665554555544444
29 Gümüşhane 6453555676644443332222222222
30 Hakkâri [n 9] 621111111111111222233333333
31 Hatay 55668977778798101010101010101111
76 Iğdır 222222222
32 Isparta 6344455555544444444545544444
İçel [n 10] 6222
34 Istanbul 12231718201928302529393131333844364550616970708588889898
35 İzmir 8111212141517151620221717181819161919242424242626262828
46 Kahramanmaraş 8554655677966677677898888888
78 Karabük 333322233
70 Karaman 2333322233
36 Kars 326581081010101299988665433333333
37 Kastamonu 886891191110101077665444544433333
38 Kayseri 756510810999118888878798889991010
71 Kırıkkale 3444433333
39 Kırklareli 333355555644433333433333333
40 Kırşehir [n 11] 7533454435433333333333322222
79 Kilis 222222222
41 Kocaeli 6677101013101112555455577910991111111314
42 Konya 10101314151515161719211616161616131413161616161414141515
Kozan [n 12] 52
43 Kütahya 6871211101210108866655555666654455
Lazistan [n 13] 6
44 Malatya 1156691011121112966666666777766666
45 Manisa 91010111213121212121411111110108991110101010991010
47 Mardin 66537871077866666565666666666
33 Mersin 7223578878977778799121212121111111313
48 Muğla 11344666556755554455666666677
49 Muş [n 14] 734422323433333343444443343
50 Nevşehir 433333333333333333
51 Niğde 6444778788755555553433333333
Oltu [n 15] 2
52 Ordu 5667889891088887676877765566
80 Osmaniye [n 16] 325344444444
53 Rize [n 17] 66666666644444443433333333
54 Sakarya 866665566766677778
55 Samsun 6367991110101214111111101089911109999999
56 Siirt 6222655444544444453333333333
57 Sinop 6434655556644433333333322222
58 Sivas 87771111151213141511111098776766655555
Siverek [n 18] 64
63 Şanlıurfa 565677677897767757891111111212121414
Şebinkarahisar [n 19] 5433
73 Şırnak 3333344444
59 Tekirdağ 234556656644444444555566678
60 Tokat 745689810991077777666767755555
61 Trabzon 11789911111212121299988676878866666
62 Tunceli [n 20] 6232223322222222222222221
64 Uşak 4433333333333333333
65 Van 7322334334534444455677788888
77 Yalova 222222233
66 Yozgat 7456777878966666555666644444
67 Zonguldak 476101011910101299999897665555555
#Total436333335348444470492503477537602450450450450450400450450550550550550550550550600600

In all but four cases, electoral districts share the same name and borders of the 81 Provinces of Turkey. The exceptions are İzmir, Istanbul, Bursa and Ankara. Provinces electing between 19 and 36 MPs are split into two electoral districts, while any province electing above 36 MPs are divided into three. As the country's four largest provinces, İzmir and Bursa are divided into two subdistricts while Ankara and Istanbul is divided into three. The distribution of elected MPs per electoral district is shown below. [8]

DistrictMPs
Adana 15
Adıyaman 5
Afyonkarahisar 6
Ağrı 4
Aksaray 4
Amasya 3
Ankara 36
Ankara (I) 13
Ankara (II) 11
Ankara (III) 12
Antalya 17
Ardahan 2
Artvin 2
Aydın 8
 
DistrictMPs
Balıkesir 9
Bartın 2
Batman 5
Bayburt 1
Bilecik 2
Bingöl 3
Bitlis 3
Bolu 3
Burdur 3
Bursa 20
Bursa (I) 10
Bursa (II) 10
Çanakkale 4
Çankırı 2
 
DistrictMPs
Çorum 4
Denizli 7
Diyarbakır 12
Düzce 3
Edirne 4
Elazığ 5
Erzincan 2
Erzurum 6
Eskişehir 6
Gaziantep 14
Giresun 4
Gümüşhane 2
Hakkâri 3
Hatay 11
 
DistrictMPs
Iğdır 2
Isparta 4
Istanbul 98
Istanbul (I) 35
Istanbul (II) 27
Istanbul (III) 36
İzmir 28
İzmir (I) 14
İzmir (II) 14
Kahramanmaraş 8
Kars 3
Kastamonu 3
Karabük 3
 
DistrictMPs
Karaman 3
Kayseri 10
Kilis 2
Kırklareli 3
Kırıkkale 3
Kırşehir 2
Kocaeli 14
Konya 15
Kütahya 5
Malatya 6
Manisa 10
Mardin 6
Mersin 13
 
DistrictMPs
Muğla 7
Muş 3
Nevşehir 3
Niğde 3
Ordu 6
Osmaniye 4
Rize 3
Sakarya 8
Samsun 9
Siirt 3
Sinop 2
Sivas 5
Şanlıurfa 14
 
DistrictMPs
Şırnak 4
Tekirdağ 8
Tokat 5
Trabzon 6
Tunceli 1
Uşak 3
Van 8
Yalova 3
Yozgat 4
Zonguldak 5
Total600

Changes in 2023

The number of MPs elected per electoral district for the 2023 general election Turkish Electoral District 2023.svg
The number of MPs elected per electoral district for the 2023 general election

The number of MPs of those ten electoral districts has been changed by the electoral council as listed below.

District 2018 2023change
Antalya 1617Increase2.svg1
Denizli 87Decrease2.svg1
Eskişehir 76Decrease2.svg1
Istanbul 9898Steady2.svg
Istanbul (II) 2827Decrease2.svg1
Istanbul (III) 3536Increase2.svg1
 
District 2018 2023change
Kocaeli 1314Increase2.svg1
Muş 43Decrease2.svg1
Sakarya 78Increase2.svg1
Tekirdağ 78Increase2.svg1
Tunceli 21Decrease2.svg1

Changes in 2018

In 2018, total MPs are increased from 550 to 600. Due to this increase, several districts had more MPs. Ankara and Bursa divided into one more electoral district due to this increase. However, Bayburt is represented with one less MP in 2018, making it the only district with a single MP.

Changes since 2011

A total of eight electoral districts had their number of MPs adjusted since the 2011 general election by the electoral council, as listed below. The two electoral districts of Ankara also had their boundaries changed. [9]

The number of MPs elected per electoral district for the 2015 general election Electoral districts of Turkey 2015.png
The number of MPs elected per electoral district for the 2015 general election
District 2011 2015change
Ankara 3132Increase2.svg1
Ankara (I) 1618Increase2.svg2
Ankara (II) 1514Decrease2.svg1
Bayburt 12Increase2.svg1
Elazığ 54Decrease2.svg1
Istanbul 8588Increase2.svg3
Istanbul (I) 3031Increase2.svg1
 
District 2011 2015change
Istanbul (II) 2726Decrease2.svg1
Istanbul (III) 2831Increase2.svg3
Kütahya 54Decrease2.svg1
Manisa 109Decrease2.svg1
Muş 43Decrease2.svg1
Ordu 65Decrease2.svg1

Votes required per MP by province

Votes required for each MP in different provinces of Turkey Milletvekili basina secmen 2015.png
Votes required for each MP in different provinces of Turkey

The number of voters in each province was announced on 17 May 2015. [10] In total, there are 53,741,838 voters in the provinces, which corresponds to 97,712 voters for each MP. However, because of the electoral system, this was not distributed equally to the provinces. In İzmir, where voters per MP was the highest, 118,669 votes corresponded to an MP, whereas in Bayburt, 27,089 voters were represented by an MP.

Two factors caused this more than fourfold disparity. [11] Namely, the electoral law favours provinces smaller in size, which caused İzmir, Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey's largest cities and provinces, to have the least representation per voter. Secondly, the distribution of MPs to provinces was based not on the number of eligible voters, but on total population, which made each vote more valuable in provinces with a young population. For example, the HDP stronghold Hakkari with 154,705 voters got 3 MPs, whereas Yalova with 166,060 voters got 2 MPs. Similarly, Van, another HDP stronghold with 596,809 voter got 8 MPs, whereas Muğla, a CHP stronghold with 665,608 voters got 6 MPs. In Şanlıurfa where AKP and HDP are strong, there were 12 MPs per 974,219 voters, whereas in Manisa, where CHP and MHP perform better than average, votes of 1,006,697 voters determined only 9 MPs. Yusuf Halaçoğlu's bill which would partly mitigate this disparity was rejected in the parliament. [12]

Parliamentary arithmetic

In order to pursue constitutional changes, a party needs either a three-fifths majority or a two-thirds majority, which give the government different powers. These are documented in the table below (valid by 2018 elections).

Local elections

2013 local government reform

Before the elections, the numbers of councillors and mayors were reduced during the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation. During the reorganisation, 1,040 beldes were abolished, leaving the number of small town municipalities at 394 and contributing to the reduction in the number of mayors elected in 2014 in comparison to 2009. [13] [14]

The following table shows the numbers of metropolitan and district municipalities, as well as provincial and municipal councillors elected in 2009 and in 2014. In local elections, municipal mayors and councillors are the only partisan officials elected. [15] [16] [17] [18]

OfficeElected in 2009Elected in 2014Change
Metropolitan municipalities16 [15] 30 [19] Increase2.svg14
District municipalities2,903 [16] 1,351 [20] Decrease2.svg1,552
Provincial councillors3,281 [17] 1,251 [21] Decrease2.svg2,030
Municipal councillors32,392 [18] 20,500 [22] Decrease2.svg11,892
Total38,59223,132Decrease2.svg15,460

References

  1. Aksaray was a province between 1924-1933 and was a district of Niğde from 1933 to 1989.
  2. Ardahan was a province until 1926 and was a district of Kars from 1926 to 1992.
  3. It was left to Georgia with the Treaty of Moscow in 1921.
  4. In 1923, it became a district of Çanakkale province.
  5. Genç until 1926, district of Elazig province between 1927-1929 and district of Muş province between 1929-1936.
  6. In 1926, it became a district of Istanbul province.
  7. In 1926, it became a district of Diyarbakır province.
  8. In 1926, it became a district of Çanakkale province.
  9. District of Van province between 1933-1936.
  10. It merged with Mersin Province in 1933.
  11. District of Nevşehir Province between 1954-1957.
  12. In 1926, it became a district of Adana province.
  13. In 1923, the province of Rize was established in place of the Lazistan Sanjak
  14. District of Bitlis province between 1925-1929.
  15. In 1926, it became a district of Erzurum province.
  16. Cebel-i Bereket Province until 1933, district of Adana Province between 1933-1996.
  17. Between 1933 and 1936, it merged with Çoruh Province, with the center being Rize.
  18. In 1926, it became a district of Şanlıurfa province.
  19. It became a district of Giresun province in 1933
  20. District of Elazığ between 1926-1936.
    1. "Turkey lowers national threshold to 7% with new election law". Daily Sabah. March 31, 2022.
    2. "Erdoğan: Barajı biz mi getirdik – Gerçek Gündem". Arsiv.gercekgundem.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    3. "CHP, 'seçim barajı yüzde 3 olsun' teklifini yineledi | Gerçek İstanbul / İstanbul Haberleri". Gercekistanbul.com. 1983-10-06. Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    4. 1 2 "Dar bölge seçim sistemi AK Parti ve BDP'ye yarıyor-Ankara Haberleri". Zaman.com.tr. 2015-05-13. Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    5. 1 2 3 "Dar bölge büyük partinin yararına – Hürriyet GÜNDEM". Hurriyet.com.tr. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    6. "AKP'nin seçim tuzağı hazır: Yüzde 7–8 baraj, daraltılmış seçim bölgesi | soL Haber Portalı | güne soL'dan bakın" (in Turkish). Haber.sol.org.tr. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    7. "550 seçim bölgeli 'dar bölge sistemi' – Gündem Haberleri". Sabah.com.tr. 2014-04-21. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    8. "Yüksek Seçim Kurulu Kararları" (PDF). Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey . No. 31800. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
    9. "Yuksek Secim Kurulu Baskanligi" (PDF). Ysk.gov.tr. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    10. "25. Dönem Milletvekili Genel Seçimi İl/İlçe/Mahalle/Köy Seçmen ve Sandık Sayıları" (PDF) (in Turkish). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
    11. "Bir milletvekili için kaç oy gerekiyor?" (in Turkish). Akşam. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
    12. "'Milletvekili sayısında adaletsizlik var'" (in Turkish). Doğan News Agency. 14 November 2014. Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
    13. "KAPANACAK KÖY ve BELDELER LİSTESİ (BÜYÜKŞEHİRLER), YAYED - Yerel Yönetim Araştırma Yardım ve Eğitim Derneği". www.yayed.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
    14. "ORDU SELE TESLİM". Ordu Gazete, Ordu Haber, Ordu Haberleri, Haber Ordu, Ordu.
    15. 1 2 "Official 2009 metropolitan municipal results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    16. 1 2 "Official 2009 district municipal results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    17. 1 2 "Official 2009 provincial councillor results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    18. 1 2 "Official 2009 municipal councillor results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    19. "Official 2014 metropolitan municipal results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    20. "Official 2014 district municipal results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    21. "Official 2014 provincial councillor results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
    22. "Official 2014 municipal councillor results" (PDF). Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. Retrieved 4 August 2014.