Voting in Closed Institutions In every election, there are problems regarding the casting of votes in prisons, nursing homes and care centres for the disabled. Polling stations are set up in some state nursing homes and centres for the disabled whereas they are not set up in others. Similarly, individuals living in these institutions have voiced concerns over the fact that there were problems regarding the updating of voter registries, and claimed that that while some voters were offered transport to polling stations on election day by the institution, others were not able to benefit from this service. There are ballot boxes in prisons where the voter population is very low, yet voters are not able to vote in these ballot boxes. Setting up ballot boxes in prisons where there are very few people is a violation of the principle of the secret vote.28 By creating ballot boxes that would only cater to very few voters, the SBE is violating the principle of secret votes. In ballot boxes where there are only one or two voters, the count inevitably exposes the political preferences of the voters. When observers arrived at the Manisa E type open and closed Prison on election day, they were told that the voting and counting had already been completed. Election Day On November 1st, mobile observation teams comprised of the managers and members of NGOs taking part in the independent observation activity observed polling stations (PO) as well as the voting and counting processes using three standardized forms. Our observers were prevented from carrying out their activities in some POs. The information gathered based on observations in 20 provinces show that certain articles of the election legislation were violated and that there were inconsistent practices across provinces in general and even ballot boxes in the same location. Scope of Observation On November 1st 2015, our observers visited 390 polling stations in 20 provinces. They observed the voting process in 955 ballot boxes. The counting process was observed at 255 ballot boxes in 19 provinces. Three separate standardized observation forms were used on election day. The first form asked questions regarding the conditions of the polling station. General information was collected through the form about the location of the POs, the time of observation, whether any campaign materials were present or campaign activities took place, whether there was any observed intimidation or pressure. In addition, questions were answered regarding the accessibility of Pos for disabled and elderly voters. 28 See Annex V: Voting Results in Ballot Boxes with few Registered Voters