Staff members wait for voters at a polling station in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2019. Voters in Istanbul flocked to the polls on Sunday morning for a re-run of the mayoral election in this largest city of Turkey. About ten million are expected to cast their votes at more than 31,000 ballot boxes established in schools in 39 districts across the city. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
ISTANBUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Voters in Istanbul flocked to the polls on Sunday morning for a re-run of the mayoral election in this largest city of Turkey.
About ten million are expected to cast their votes at more than 31,000 ballot boxes established in schools in 39 districts across the city.
The race is mainly between Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate for the main opposition the Republican People's Party (CHP), and Binali Yildirim from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who is a former prime minister.
Imamoglu beat Yildirim by a margin of 13,000 votes in the first election held on March 31, but the result was annulled by the Supreme Election Board over AKP claims of irregularities.
Imamoglu served as Istanbul mayor for less than one month before he was disqualified by the election board on May 6 as it called for a fresh election.
About an hour after the election started, voters were filling a polling station in the Dikilitas neighborhood in the Besiktas district at central Istanbul.
A mother and daughter returned to the city the previous day from their holiday in the southern resort city of Antalya.
"I hesitated to take a flight one more time due to my several ailments," said the 86-year-old lady. "But then I thought it is my duty, and it is a must for the democratic future of this country."
The mass return of voters for the re-run was a main topic for those waiting in the line.
A young man said he was in the Aegean town of Ayvalik a day earlier and the bus terminal was full of Istanbulites.
"Istanbul is experiencing one of its busiest days," one wrote on Twitter, posting several photos of traffic jams at the entrances to the city.
For a smooth election this time, the political parties have taken more precautions to guard against any wrongdoings during the voting and counting processes.
Earlier the CHP announced at least one lawyer for each of the ballot boxes.
Additionally, the opposition party has at least two observers for each ballot box, and floor managers, attendants and IT managers for each school as well as 200,000 volunteers to patrol the polling stations, according to a press release.
The AKP also has observers and volunteers at each ballot box.
The voting started at 08:00 local time (0500GMT) and will be closed at 17:00 (1400GMT).
