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Ankara Bar Association has released a written statement in the wake of a decision by the Supreme Election Council (YSK), which prevents prisoners and those convicted of negligent offenses from casting votes ahead of local elections on March 31, 2019.
The Association has denounced the decision of the YSK by stating, "It is an open intervention in the essence of the right to vote, which is one of the most fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution."
Here are some of the highlights from Ankara Bar Association's statement:
"The right to vote is sacred"
"Though the Article 67 of the Constitution and the Article 7 of the Law no. 298 openly grant the right to vote to prisoners and the ones convicted of negligent offenses and though the Article 13 of the Constitution states that the right to vote can only be restricted by a law, such a regulation has been introduced with a decision by the YSK by ignoring the Constitution.
"The right to vote is so sacred that it cannot be abolished with administrative practices or administrative restrictions introduced as part of these administrative practices. No administrative authority has the right or jurisdiction to decide on the existence or survival of this right.
"In this country, democracy and Constitutional rights can be abolished with a single administrative decision, the presumption of innocence can be equated with execution as per the same decision.
"In the legal history of Turkey, this decision, which was published on the Official Gazette, is evidence that shows how the presumption of innocence, which is the biggest guarantee of the state of law, Constitutional and most fundamental human rights, democracy and human dignity, can be abolished with a single administrative act." (AÖ/SD)
