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Türkiye ranks in top four among OECD states for voter turnout

Türkiye's voter turnout of over 87 percent placed it only behind OECD members Australia at 89.74 percent, Luxembourg at 89.66 percent and Belgium at 88.38 percent

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Türkiye’s 64-million voter base is nearly twice the total population of those three countries combined and over 55 million people went to the polls in the election.

Türkiye has ranked near the top of voter turnout in elections among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to data from the group.

According to information from the OECD and Idea International, the 87.05 percent turnout rate in Türkiye’s May 14 parliamentary election and the first round of its presidential election and 85.71 percent rate in the May 28 runoff put the country at number four on the list.

It came behind only Australia with 89.74 percent, Luxembourg with 89.66 percent, and Belgium with 88.38 percent. But Türkiye’s 64-million voter base is nearly twice the total population of those three countries combined.

Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway follow Türkiye on the list. Those countries all have relatively much smaller populations compared to Türkiye's, hovering around 80 percent in participation.

Behind Norway on the list is Germany, which has a population comparable to Türkiye’s, with a 76.58 percent turnout rate.

Austria and France trail Germany on the list with 75.69 percent and 73.69 percent respectively, while Spain follows with 71.76 percent.

The US meanwhile has just over a 70 percent turnout rate and the UK has a 67 percent rate, while Italy’s stands at 63 percent.

Switzerland, which has historically been governed through direct democracy, suffers from low turnout rates. Placed last on the list with just over 45 percent, it falls behind Mexico, Lithuania, and Colombia in democratic participation.

According to unofficial results, incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Sunday’s election with 52.16 percent of the vote, while opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu got 47.84 percent.

More than 64.1 million Turkish citizens were registered to vote, including over 1.92 million who cast their ballots at polling stations abroad.

On May 14, no candidate crossed the 50 percent threshold in the first round, triggering the presidential runoff, although Erdogan took the lead with 49.52 percent.

On the same day, Erdogan's AK Party-led People's Alliance also won a majority of seats in parliament.