Independent candidates collect signatures to race at presidential polls

Voters have been applying to the relevant district election boards since March 22 to sign in favor of presidential candidates that need at least 100,000 signatures to run at the May 14 polls. The signature process will continue until March 27.

Vatan Party Chairman Doğu Perinçek, Ata Alliance presidential candidate Sinan Oğan, Homeland Party Chairman Muharrem İnce, New Wealth Party Chairman Fatih Erbakan, Turkish Alliance presidential candidate Ahmet Özal and Justice Union Party Chairman İrfan Uzun applied to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) for candidacy.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from the People's Alliance and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from Nation Alliance will also run in the polls.

As independent candidates: Halil Murat Ünver, Yakup Türkal, Erkan Trükten, Hilmi Özden and Davut Turan also have applied to run for the presidential elections.

The election calendar prepared by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) was issued in the Official Gazette late on March 13 for one of the country's most critical polls in which tens of millions of people will elect the president and 600-seat parliament on May 14.

According to the figures at midday in the second day, İnce received 32,902 signatures while Erbakan followed him with 31,901 signatures. The number of signatures for Oğan was 18,026, and for Perinçek 7,996.

The Supreme Election Board rejected the applications of Murat Hakan Uzan, Cem Cengiz Uzan and Hürrem Ayaz on the grounds that "applications were not made to the Board in person," and the board determined that there were missing documents in nine other applications.

The decision of the YSK regarding the 11 candidates whose applications were accepted was published in the Official Gazette.

The presidential nominees...