We Asked Someone Who Knows Problems Like Vote Stealing on Election Day

We all remember the problems we had in previous elections. For example, in the 2018 elections, the Republican People’s Party systems down and the party members were faced with serious problems. For this reason, many people want to make sure that similar problems will not occur in the next election and that the elections are ‘safe’.

For this reason, we decided to consult an expert, and he compiled his research on election into a book. Secil TurkkanWe reached . He is a researcher, journalist and He is the author of the book “Securing the Ballots for Election Security”. In the content of the book, you can find the data it has collected since 2018 and the findings it has made. We asked him about security concerns, how the systems work, and in their own words We have compiled the answers given to us for you.

What is covered by “election security” studies and what is not? For example, are possible terrorist incidents and social media disinformation before the election covered within the scope of these security studies, or does election security only cover the measures related to the process “when the ballots are started to be cast and the counting is completed and approved”?

“Election security actually starts in people’s emotional world. The more transparent, explanatory and reassuring the people are about this issue, the more the public’s mood is shaped accordingly. It is possible to reflect, monitor and report the processes regarding the democratic making of the election.However, with the emergence of a ballot box movement in Turkey, we understand that; People do not trust the system.“

How reliable are the alternative ways that political parties use to ensure election security? (Like the collapse of CHP’s systems in the 2018 elections)

“This issue is of course the subject of all political parties, but the first institution that we will hold responsible and that should be held accountable for being responsible should be the political party in power, because it is the party that rules Turkey and even says that it will aspire to it for the next years. To begin with, the AK Party government falls short in reassuring the public because its political relationship with the Supreme Election Board, which organizes the elections, and the dependency of the institutions on them are primarily breaking people’s trust elements. Besides, there are recurring phenomena that have particularly broken the trust of the people I interviewed for my book work. One of them is the YSK’s decision to count unsealed votes as valid, and the second is the occasional decision in the first election. Because there are 13 thousand differences repeated Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections. The responsibility of both of them lies with the AK Party.

In other words, when you look at this photo, the alternative ways that political parties take to ensure election security are the ones they have to take more. extra precautions becomes. It is correct to describe the position like this.

Election security and observers were not an area that the parties thought about and worked on before the volunteers brought this issue to the agenda, but with the emergence of Oy ve Ötesi in the 2014 elections, it was especially important. an agenda owned by opposition parties took shape. The time you mention coincides with the establishment of the Fair Election Platform in 2018. Although the name of the CHP came to the fore, this platform was also established with the efforts of large and small non-governmental organizations. In fact, if we enumerate the full names of its components, what I mean will be clearer; Republican People’s Party, Good Party, Felicity Party, Peoples’ Democratic Party, Labor Party, DİSK, KESK, United Public Works, Property Owners Union, Kemalist Thought Association, Unity for Democracy, Rights and Justice Platform, United June Movement, We Are the Country, Freedom Movement , Balloting Power, Can’t Be Without You, Election Process Assemblies, My Vote Is Safe, Anıtpark Forum, Election 2018 Citizen News Network.

Ultimately, since the CHP was the largest structure among these components, the failure, as it is called, fell on them. If the system had not crashed, this “success” would have fallen on them. This doesn’t seem fair to me. That’s why the 2018 trial was actually one of the methods that opponents found to improve the system in a completely blocked election security system. Unfortunately it didn’t work at one stage and There was a problem in delivering the wet signed minutes to the center. But again, looking at the big picture, that’s not why the election was lost to the opposition, is it? The importance of the Fair Election Platform was as follows; large, hierarchical, and necessarily cumbersome in nature, parties worked with volunteers. Moreover, many formations that would not come together were shoulder to shoulder in this structure. That’s why I see it as an important experience rather than success or failure. We can say that the software had not crashed and could have been done better, but it is also possible to set up the criticism as follows; I wish then If we had a 100 percent reliable electoral system and there would be no need for such a structure to be established.

To sum it up, if you stuff all of the democratic rights in a ballot box while you are running the country, protecting the ballot boxes and voting turns into a political protest, and you see a new layered ballot box. “voluntary” movements you will find. That’s what it is.”

We have seen many exemplary cases of changing the results of elections abroad. For example, like the Cambridge Analytica scandal, after which it was understood that a similar path was taken in more than 20 countries. Could the elections in Turkey have shared the same fate before? Is such a possibility on the table for CB elections?

• March 31, 2019 Municipal Elections

“Let’s add to that, according to Oxford Internet Institute reports. Organized manipulation campaigns on social media in at least 81 countries by 2020 was also arranged. There are undoubtedly more detailed studies of these studies. In my opinion, we cannot think of the “social media troll” discussions we are talking about in Turkey without these, but in order to talk about such matters without fear and judgment. we need data.

As the elections approach, all parties will play their cards, so of course, social media will be a big part of this whole game. In order not to step on all the traps here not believing everything we see on the internet It might be the first thing we do.

Besides, what we can talk about about the Turkish elections is something else; unusual votes. This means: For example, a party’s overalls in a ballot box… Prof. Ali Çarkoğlu detailed the article titled “Forensic analysis of Turkish elections in 2017-2018” in our interview. In the article 2018 elections 1.5 – 2 million games may have been displaced it is said.

Incidents like these are more common at the ballot box. where independent volunteers are not available is happening. Prof. He drew me a framework such as Central Anatolia, the Inner Black Sea, and places where Kurds and Arabs live intensely. Ali Carkoglu. In order to prevent such imbalances, we need independent ballot box volunteers.”

Is manipulation through deliberate disinformation aimed at changing people’s minds within the scope of election security studies?

“Aimed at establishing or undermining trust everything I think that would fall within that scope.”

Is it necessary to join a political party or NGO to defend election security? How is being involved different from struggling independently?

“Election security as a citizen that you can request at home something, of course, but doing it in an organized way, working with an organization for “election security” is like raising a snowball. I think that’s the difference.

If the demand for election security as a citizen is of our fundamental rights. Participation is the first and immeasurable condition for the representation of our ideas in the Assembly.”

Let’s say that there were more serious problems on the election day than the doubts seen so far. What are the legal rights of citizens in such a situation?

“The movement to protect the voluntary chests that I wrote about not written in the law but not against the law one of the ways. In my opinion, people can also create what is happening according to their own foresight and needs, when necessary. If we’re going to talk about legality, I don’t think we’ll come across any doubts that go beyond the law; However, it is only possible if these people protect their chests or make sure that they are protected.”

According to Mrs. Seçil, we still have many problems to deal with while counting the days to the election, but ‘we’ can also support to ensure election security. He explained the issue clearly with his words. So what are your plans for the election and election day?