Turkish parliament approves contentious election law changes

By SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s parliament has approved electoral law amendments that critics maintain could pave the way to election fraud and aim to curtail an opposition alliance’s chances of wresting control of the house in the next elections. Parliament backed the changes by a show of hands at the end of a three-day debate Thursday. The reforms amend the way legislative seats are distributed among members of an alliance and makes some changes to the way elections are overseen. Opposition parties have slammed the changes as a desperate attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, which has been sliding in opinion polls, to stay in power.