ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s high administrative court on Tuesday dealt a new blow to the main opposition party’s efforts to appeal the result of a referendum that will greatly expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office, rejecting a request that it overturn a controversial decision by the nation’s electoral authority.
The Republican People’s Party is contesting the April 16 referendum, citing a number of irregularities during the voting, in particular an electoral board decision to accept ballots without official stamps. International monitors also have noted irregularities and said the decision to accept the unstamped ballots as valid removed an important safeguard against fraud and was against the law.
The Council of State, the nation’s highest administrative court, ruled against the Republican People’s request to overturn the electoral board’s decision on the unstamped ballots, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The court said it had no jurisdiction over the electoral authority’s decision.
Last week, the electoral board rejected the Republican People’s request to annul the referendum by a 10-1 vote. It published past rulings on the validity of unstamped ballots.
The administrative court’s decision leaves the opposition party with few options. Republican People’s officials have said they would challenge the ruling at the Constitutional Court and, if necessary, at the European Court of Human Rights. Government officials have warned that the election authority’s decision is final and that attempts to challenge it in the courts would be futile.