site.btaThere Will Be 254 Fewer Polling Stations in UK, Turkiye, US for April 19 Elections Compared to October 2024 Vote

There will be 254 fewer polling stations in the United Kingdom, Turkiye, and the United States for the April 19 parliamentary elections compared with the vote on October 27, 2024. Earlier this year, Parliament amended the Election Code to limit the number of polling stations outside diplomatic and consular missions in non-EU countries to 20.

Rositsa Mateva, deputy chair and spokesperson for the Central Election Commission (CEC), noted earlier this month that the three countries affected by the changes are the UK, Turkiye, and the US.

On Saturday, the CEC decided to open 493 polling stations in 55 countries for the April 19 elections, with some locations pending approval from host countries. By comparison, 719 polling stations in 57 countries were opened for the October 27 elections.

Under the new rules, there will be 28 polling stations in the UK, 27 in Turkiye, and 24 in the US for the April elections. By comparison, there were 112 in the UK, 168 in Turkiye, and 53 in the US for the October 2024 elections.

The largest number of polling stations abroad will be in Germany - 70 - and Spain - 67.

Applications to vote abroad for the April elections are already twice as many as for October, with Turkiye and the UK recording the highest numbers.