The union’s representatives petitioned the Supreme Election Board (YSK), the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The petition indicates that since the voter registration has been finalized, the situation of the civil servants who have been reassigned needs to be considered. A voter’s home address and personal information must be up to date in order for him or her to be eligible to vote.
“The constitutional right of civil servants, their spouses and children to vote in the Sept, 12, 2010, referendum is threatened,” Memur-Sen stated in its petition, as quoted by Anatolia.
“Most of the civil servants whose right to vote is under threat are under the jurisdiction of our confederation’s 11 unions,” the application also noted as it referred to Article 67 of the Constitution and an international agreement that Turkey signed on Aug. 15, 2000 -- the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966.
The union then demanded that there is a need for a new ruling to ensure that civil servants in certain situations will be able to vote in the referendum. Memur-Sen President Ahmet Gündoğdu said the YSK is responsible for clearing any barriers that may prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote.
Every summer teachers, members of the military, police officers and health workers are reassigned and relocated. Taking into consideration their entire families, about 500,000 people may have difficulty voting in the referendum as they will not be able to register on time.
Voter registration lists were finalized on July 3, the last date on which changes could be made to the records. About 60,000 teachers will be reappointed this summer. When the voter registration lists were finalized, teachers had not yet been assigned to their new posts.
