At present, at least 3 million people across the country have yet to register to obtain e-IDs, according to data from the Home Ministry, which has been speeding up efforts to resolve the issue before the country holds simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on April 17.

In the 2009 and 2014 elections, voters were able to use IDs, family cards or passports to cast their ballots on voting day, following a Constitutional Court ruling in 2009 to allow citizens to use these documents to exercise their voting rights.

Even if voters were not listed on the final voter list (DPT), they could bring their identity documents to the polling stations to cast their votes until one hour before the polls closed.

However, after the most recent amendment of the Election Law in 2017, possession of an e-ID has become a legal requirement to vote, a source of controversy during the regional elections that were held afterward.

The root of the controversy was that the e-ID program has been marred by corruption surrounding procurement and distribution since 2011, resulting in citizens, even if they had registered, having to wait for months, and sometimes more than a year, to receive their e-IDs.

In response, the Constitutional Court ruled on March 28 that voters without e-IDs could bring suket (recommendation letters) as an alternative form of identification to the polling stations.

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