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Dianne Wampler  08/01/2007 09:45:02 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Dianne Wampler

Cable 
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UNCLAS        ISTANBUL 00694

SIPDIS
CX:
    ACTION: POL
    INFO:   CONS TSR PMA ECON DCM AMB RAO FCS PA MGT DAO

DISSEMINATION: POL /1
CHARGE: PROG

VZCZCAYO838
RR RUEHAK
DE RUEHIT #0694 2130621
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010621Z AUG 07
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7353
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000694 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TU
SUBJECT: $50 AND A FREE LUNCH: THE PERKS OF HELPING RUN A 
TURKISH ELECTION 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  Unlike most voters, who were in and out of 
their polling places in five minutes, the Consulate bank 
teller spent all day at his polling station, helping to 
administer the official voting.  His experience gives a 
glimpse of civil society's contribution to Turkey's 
parliamentary elections.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) While the majority of the officials selected by the 
Supreme Election Board (SEB) are teachers and other civil 
servants, the government also asked large private companies 
to help.  Fortis Bank selected our teller, who received the 
equivalent of $50, a free lunch, and the following day off as 
compensation.  He and other lucky winners were given two or 
three briefing sessions before arriving at their polling 
stations, generally a school.  Under the supervision of a 
senior official (in his case this was a teacher who had 
monitored previous elections), he was assigned to a 
particular ballot box intended to be used by no more than 400 
voters. Each polling place had anywhere from five to twenty 
boxes. 
 
¶3.  (U) After voting themselves when they arrived at 7:30am, 
the monitors were expected to remain at their stations all 
day, checking identification, distributing ballots and 
envelopes, and making sure that each voter went into the 
voting booth alone.  Even those assisting older voters were 
prohibited from entering the booth.  Each political party was 
allowed to have an official observer on hand, but many of 
them chose not to send representatives.  A Consulate FSN 
noted representatives from the Justice and Development Party 
(AKP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP) at his polling 
place in Istanbul,s third district. Other parties were 
allowed to come and go throughout the day, and when AKP opted 
not to provide lunch for the officials at the teller's 
station, Saadet Party volunteered. 
 
¶4.  (U) In spite of an 86% turnout rate at the teller's 
ballot box (260 of the 301 registered voters came), it was 
rarely busy.  Even during the morning peak there were never 
more than four people waiting in line.  Although the polls 
closed at 5:00pm, the monitors were there counting the votes 
until 9:00pm.  The teller's tabulation was complete by 
6:00pm, but official procedures required monitors to wait 
until all of the boxes from the site were counted before they 
could leave. 
 
¶5. (U)  SEB officials helped  record the votes during the 
counting process.  Each envelope was opened and the ballot 
was held up for everyone in the room to see.  Two officials 
then separately recorded each vote on papers previously 
printed with each party's name, so that they could check the 
accuracy of their recordings.  The vote count was entered 
into a computer provided by the SEB and then the ballots were 
sealed in bags and transported by bus to the district's 
Election Board Center where they remained until the results 
are finalized on July 30. 
 
¶6.  (U) Voting is compulsory in Turkey but serving as a 
polling official is not.  Our teller,s willingness to do so, 
along with others like him, help explain the rapid vote tally 
on election night despite 84% turnout (42 million votes) and 
Turkey,s reputation for fair, well-organized elections. 
OUDKIRK