The deputy mayor election held by Üsküdar Municipality on August 5, 2026, has been overturned by the judiciary.
Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court halted the execution of decision No. 76 by the Üsküdar Municipal Council, which declared CHP candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya elected deputy mayor.
The court reviewed a lawsuit filed by council member Dündar Ziya Gültekin, the People’s Alliance candidate in the election, and concluded that irregularities had occurred in the vote count and that election security had been violated.
Invalid ballots sparked controversy
Following the arrest and subsequent suspension from office of Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş, the Municipal Council convened on August 5 to choose a new deputy mayor.
The election, contested by CHP candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya and People’s Alliance candidate Dündar Ziya Gültekin, lasted four rounds.
The required majority was not reached in the first two rounds. In the third round, Çetinkaya received 21 votes and Gültekin received 18, while five ballots were declared invalid, prompting controversy between the sides.
In the fourth round, Sibel Tan Çetinkaya received 22 votes and Dündar Ziya Gültekin received 18; four ballots were declared invalid. Çetinkaya was elected deputy mayor as a result.
AK Party took the election to court
After the election, the AK Party argued that some ballots had been declared invalid on unlawful and arbitrary grounds and initiated legal proceedings.
The AK Party’s Üsküdar district organization filed a criminal complaint concerning the election and applied to the administrative court, seeking the annulment of the election proceedings and the Municipal Council decision, as well as a rerun of the election.
Following its review, the court concluded that the assessment and counting of ballots during the election process had breached the law.
The ruling stated that the invalid ballots were not, by themselves, capable of changing the election result, but that no reasonable and legally sufficient explanation had been provided for why some ballots were deemed invalid.
The court also found that the voting process had not been conducted properly and securely, and that the practices in question had undermined election security.
Üsküdar set for a new vote
Following the stay-of-execution ruling by Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court, a new election for deputy mayor is now on the agenda of the Üsküdar Municipal Council.
CHP and People’s Alliance candidates are expected to face each other again in the new vote, while the court ruling has restarted the deputy mayor selection process at Üsküdar Municipality.
