Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) decided early Wednesday that votes would be recounted in seven districts of İstanbul following Sunday’s local elections, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Earlier, the district electoral councils of Şile, Bayrampaşa, Ataşehir, Ümraniye, Beykoz, Fatih and Gaziosmanpaşa decided to reassess votes that were initially deemed invalid after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) filed appeals with the councils.
However, the İstanbul Provincial Election Council decided to halt the review and recount of these votes following an appeal by the main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP).
The AKP filed an objection to the decision.
The YSK then held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the Provincial Election Council’s decision and ruled to overturn it.
On Tuesday the AKP officially challenged poll results in 39 district municipalities under the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Bayram Şenocak, the party’s Istanbul provincial chairman, claimed it had found “significant discrepancies” in poll results.
In the İstanbul mayor’s race, Ekrem İmamoğlu of the main opposition CHP, with 48.79 percent of the vote, currently has a narrow lead over the AKP’s Binali Yildirim, with 48.51 percent.