Turkish bar association: electoral board violated law during referendum

Turkey's electoral board's decision to allow unstamped ballots in Sunday's referendum was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) said in a statement.

"With this illegal decision, ballot box councils (officials at polling stations) were misled into believing that the use of unstamped ballots was appropriate," Reuters cited the association as saying.

"The YSK (electoral board) announcement, which is clearly against the law, has led to irregularities, and the prevention of records that could uncover irregularities from being kept," it said, adding that it expected the YSK to now realise its constitutional responsibilities in evaluating complaints.