Pamuk hits the polls: Lamb follows owner everywhere, including the Turkish ballot booth

By Ilyas Kacar and Irem Demir

ISTANBUL (AA) – Ummiye had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow, and everywhere that Ummiye went, that lamb was sure to go … including the ballot booth.

Ummiye Guzel, 52, and her lamb named Pamuk (Cotton), on Sunday cast a vote together in Istanbul in Türkiye’s pivotal presidential election runoff.

Pamuk, sporting a blue-and-white-striped top, put a smile on everyone's face by following its owner all the way to the third floor of the school where Guzel was set to vote, and then even into the voting booth where her owner cast her ballot.

Guzel told Anadolu that she adopted the wooly lamb her mother sent from Antalya in southern Türkiye two months ago when it was just over a week old.

She said Pamuk is like a child to her, and fellow voters were surprised and enchanted by her animal companion. A poll watcher insisted on taking a photo to commemorate the moment.

Guzel is known for traveling with her lamb in the Ayazaga neighborhood of Istanbul’s Sariyer district.

In a second-round runoff vote on Sunday, Turkish voters are set to elect the president, choosing between incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.