what is vote and beyond association / movement?
TRANSCRIPT
OY VE ÖTESİ ASSOCIATION
Sadettin Demirel
DescriptionThe association was founded by 8 friends in the aftermath of Gezi Park Protests in 24 April 2013
Oy ve Ötesi is a non-governmental and non-partizan organization that aims to encourage people to vote and monitor the election.
According to the current election law, political parties and independent candidates running in the election, have the right to have official observers at the polling stations. Those observers have the right to object to the counting process, if necessary, and obtain an official copy of the polling station’s results.
DescriptionThanks to election law, the observers that represent independent candidates or political parties can participate counting process and monitor the election.
( Red Thin Line) Observers have to have badge from parties or candidates to interfere counting process legally.
Oy ve Ötesi works with volunteers. First the organization trains the volunteers with meetings and online contents to keep them up with current election system and, help them what they do when they become observers in the election.
Lastly the organization accepts donations from non political sources because any fee or fund from political authorities may damage neutrality of organisation
Why?
The effects of Gezi Protests
Why?“After protests, debates started as to what could be done. Everybody was talking about changing the justice system, the education system, etc. We, on the other hand, wanted to canalize the energy of Gezi into a more concrete, short-term project. We gave ourselves an achievable target. We wanted to have a success story so that people could see that they can make a difference” Serkan Çelebi said in the interview of Harriet Daily News.
Why?Power cuts in 35 city during the during counting process, counting votes in the light of the candle, police raids to some of polling stations, lost or changed results in March 2014 local elections caused some of people ’s distrust for election system
Why?
Public distrust to election system in Turkey. According to the research:
The rate of Turkish citizens who believe “the elections will not be fair” has increased from 28 percent in 2007 to 43 percent in 2015, according to a recent survey.
In 2007, 70 percent of respondents said they believed “the elections would be fair,” but this rate has decreased to 48 percent in 2015, according to the survey.
2015
0
17,5
35
52,5
70
Yes No
4348
Yes NoDo you think the elections are fair in Turkey?
Mission
Its mission is supporting participatory democracy in Turkey and providing various type of people that have different beliefs and opinions with suitable atmosphere to work together for the sake of fair election and democracy.
Public Interest Independency
Integrity Participation
Transparency
Diligence
EthicSolutionOriented Privacy
Objectives“The first objectives is to increase voter turnout in
elections.
It aims to facilitate the link between candidates and
voters.
Creating awareness for election monitoring.
How do they keep communities together?
First of all Oy ve Oteri gives the people an opportunity that they can make difference by monitoring election and standing up for their rights.
Also association built an effective communication networks that grow day by day
Association gets in touch with volunteers thanks to traditional and social media services.
Especially social media services are the main platforms to reach the people who want to be volunteer. So the association used four big social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Mostly used to news sharing and create awareness because Facebook is the largest social platform that is used in Turkey
Tweeter was also used for news sharing and raise awareness but generally it used for warnings and tips that make volunteers job
easier.
Instagram was used by same cause with Tweeter and Facebook
Youtube
Youtube is used for different reason than other platforms. Most importantly the association use youtube for online training program.
How do they keep communities together?
So the organisation used various social media services effectively in order to create / raise awareness and reach potential volunteers .
Also Celebrities such as Cem Yılmaz, Mert Fırat etc also have very important role to attract attention of public.
• Additionally the organisation used mainstream media too. Cofounder Çelebi participated many news programs and told Oy ve Ötesi and its vision.(https://youtu.be/EvImUqB7fNM)
How do they keep communities together?
The community grew rapidly from 8 friends to 60.000 people according to numbers of volunteers in November 1 general election thanks to those activities.
Further more the association organised many meetings across the country to prepare volunteers for how they participate counting process, how they monitor election and how they notice tricks in election process.
ActivitiesSo far Oy ve Ötesi participated to monitor three big elections.
1. 2014 March 30 Local Elections
It monitored the election with 26.500 volunteers in 33000 polling stations in Istanbul
2. 2014 State Presidency Election
Oy ve Ötesi’s Volunteers observed the election in İstanbul, Ankara, Adana, Bursa, İzmir ve Antalya
Activities3. 2015 June 7 General Election
55.000 volunteers monitored the election in 46 cities and 173 districts.
Confirmation & Record System
Collaborators
Volunteers
Celebrities
Union of Turkish Bar Associations
Union of Istanbul, Antalya, Adana, Mersin, Muğla Bar Association
Bab-ı Hayal and Istanbul Hepimizin Initiative
Young Lawyers Council
Thank You😃