VOA慢速英语--库尔德人批评土耳其移动投票箱计划

Kurds Criticizes Turkey’s Plan to Move Ballot¹ Boxes

Turkey has announced plans to move voting stations in some areas with a high Kurdish population.

The government says the move is designed to stop threats against Kurdish voters. But the main pro-Kurdish party say the plan is aimed at keeping its members out of parliament in elections later this month.

Turkey’s High Election Board announced the plan earlier this week. The board did not say how many ballot boxes would be moved. But it noted² that 144,000 voters lived in the affected³ areas.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, the HDP, said the voting stations were being moved from villages where the party has strong support. The party said they are to be set up in nearby villages that support the AK Party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It added that the move was designed to keep the HDP below a 10 percent threshold of votes needed to enter parliament.

The move was made possible by legislation that passed in parliament two months ago. The law gave the election board’s members permission to combine electoral areas and move ballot boxes to other areas.

The government said the law was changed because of concerns that the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK, could threaten voters in the mainly Kurdish southeast to vote for the HDP.

The PKK is banned in Turkey. The group launched an armed campaign against the government in 1984.

The board’s chairman, Sadi Guven, reportedly said, “Security is important but going to the polls with free will is also very important.” The state-operated Anadolu news agency reported his comments.

Under the electoral law, Turkish officials will accept ballots⁴ that are not marked by the local electoral board. It also gives security force members permission to enter a polling station when invited by a voter.

Opposition⁵ parties say the changes will make the vote counting less open.

"We see that the decision (to move the ballot boxes) was made for villages where the HDP gets a large share of the votes," HDP spokesman Ayhan Bilgen said.

The government accuses the HDP of being a political extension of the PKK and says its support rises when voters are threatened. The HDP denies this.

The United States considers the PKK a terrorist group.

The elections are set for Sunday, June 24.

Opinion studies have shown that the HDP is likely to win about 10 percent of the vote. They also show the total opposition share at around 50 percent - making it a close race to get control of parliament.

If the HDP fails to reach the threshold, its votes could be split between other parties. That probably would raise AK Party's numbers and likely guarantee it a majority.

Words in This Story

board – n. a group of people with power to supervise or direct something

threshold – n. the point at which an effect is produced; the point at which something begins to change

poll – n. an election or activity in which people are asked a question or series of questions; the record of votes that were made in an election

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。