CHP Youth Branch Chairman Gençosman Killik stated that university students would not be able to vote if the elections were held on 14 May and announced that they would launch a ‘Democracy Ticket’ campaign. Killik said, “We don’t care which party he will vote for. We want people, namely young people, to go and vote at the ballot box,” he said.
CHP Youth Branch Chairman Gençosman Killik said at a press conference at CHP Headquarters on Wednesday that university students would not be able to vote if the elections were held on 14 May.
“They are aware that the nation, especially the young people, will say ‘enough’ to themselves at the ballot box,” said Killik. We know that the biggest reason for the elections to be postponed to 14 May is to keep the youth away from the ballot box. Just by pulling the elections from 18 June to 14 May, around 200,000 young people who turned 18 between these dates will be deprived of voting. Between these dates, they will have kept about 200 thousand young people who have birthdays away from the ballot box. Holding an election on May 14 means that young people who are away from their families and study at a university in another city have difficulty in voting due to the residence problem.
Gençosman Killik continued as follows:
“In the upcoming elections, approximately 6 million young voters will vote for the first time. This means that one out of every ten voters will vote for the first time. However, young voters make up about 25 percent of the total electorate. This means that there will be one youth out of every four voters. In other words, we are the young people who will determine the future of our country, whose population is under the age of 35.”
“WE WILL POST A VIDEO FOR AWARENESS”
Stating that many university students stay in dormitories or at home, Killik said, “Our first wish is for our young friends who will be in the city where they study at the university on the election day to update their residence addresses. We have completed the necessary preparations for this. ‘What can we do as CHP?’ We thought about it and we will provide them with various methods in this sense. We will set up tables on how our friends can update their residence. We will tell these to all our young friends in front of all universities in Turkey. Later, we will publish videos for simultaneous campaigns and awareness on social media.”
“So what else will the CHP do?” Killik said: “Of the 209 universities in our country, 127, or 61 percent, are located on the border of municipalities administered by the CHP. In our country, 77 percent of the 8.5 million students receiving university education and 56 percent of the approximately 3 million 300 thousand university students in formal education live in cities administered by CHP municipalities. Anyone who already has a registered electricity or water bill can easily change their address via e-government. Our young friends who do not have the right to change their address via e-Government should go to the population directorate and the election board. This is where we’ll step in. CHP municipalities will declare a mobilization in their own city. We will ensure that all our friends who will vote in the city where they study at university apply without being asked which party they will vote for. Everyone will be supported in the process of moving their residence, both by routing and by car.”
‘DEMOCRACY TICKET’ CAMPAIGN
Gencosman Killik said, “Now, since they, the AK Party government, wants young people not to vote, we are implementing the ‘Democracy Ticket’ this time.”
“What is this Democracy Ticket? We don’t care which party you vote for. We want people, namely young people, to go and vote at the ballot box. The AK Party government wants to keep young people away from the ballot box by making these elections, especially during the final week of universities, when travel dates are difficult for young people and it is difficult for them to return to their families. We defend democracy. We believe that the voting of young people will contribute to the future of this country in the best way possible. We want the will of all citizens of the Republic of Turkey to be reflected in that ballot box in the best possible way.
Here we make a call to the ruling party. General elections in Turkey have been held in June for a long time. The years 2018, 2015, 2011, 2007 are examples of this. Why did you feel the need to hold the elections in May this time? What has changed so that you feel the need to move the elections to 14 May? If you say, ‘We don’t have a problem with preventing young people from voting’, give up this May 14 passion. Either hold the elections at a much earlier date, as is needed right now, or do not touch this date, on June 18, when the young people return to their homes, they can vote comfortably. If you are not doing this, also for students staying in the dormitory, apply for young people to carry their addresses via e-government in order to facilitate their voting process. Students staying in dormitories upload the document they received from their dormitories to the system with the verification codes, and you can facilitate this address transfer process. Because one way or another, young people will go to that ballot box, and you will go from those seats.”
