Shafaq News/ On Sunday, the Independent High ElectoralCommission (IHEC) in Duhok province announced that the voter turnout in theelectoral process has been below expectations so far, noting that the provinceused to record the highest turnout rates in previous elections.
Khaled Abbas, director of the IHEC office in Duhok, toldShafaq News that “the electoral process faced some technical issues related tothe devices used in voting, but the maintenance teams were able to deal withthem immediately.”
He added that challenges faced reading the fingerprints ofsome voters during biometric voting. Statistics showed that about 5% of thosewhose fingerprints were not read in the biometric process will be entitled tovote. However, “anyone whose fingerprints were not read will be definitivelydeprived of casting his vote during the voting process in compliance with theCommission's rules.”
Abbas expressed his concern about the possibility of an“increase in voter turnout at polling stations in the last hours of voting,which may lead to great pressure on the centers and affect the smooth flow ofthe electoral process.”
The voting process in the Kurdistan Region, which began onSunday, faced some issues, most notably the failure to register fingerprintsfor some voters, particularly the elderly, according to Shafaq Newscorrespondent.
The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq (IHEC)opened 1,622 polling stations at 07:00 a.m. for eligible residents across theRegion, with a total of 2,683,618 eligible voters out of 2,899,578 registeredvoters.
The commission announced on Friday that 97% of voters in thespecial voting—comprising 215,960 members of the Peshmerga and internalsecurity forces—had participated, confirming that the process ran smoothly withno significant violations reported.
A total of 1,091 candidates from both genders are competingfor 100 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, five of which are reserved forminority groups. This number has been reduced from 11 seats following adecision by the Federal Supreme Court, Iraq's highest judicial authority.
According to the electoral law, at least 30 seats must beallocated to women.
The race is spread across four provinces: 32 seats in thecapital, Erbil, 36 in Al-Sulaymaniyah, 24 in Duhok, and three in Halabja. Thefive quota seats for minorities are divided as follows: two in Erbil, two inSulaymaniyah, and one in Duhok.
The legislative election in Kurdistan has been delayed fourtimes over the past two years due to political disputes. It was originallyscheduled for 2022.
Since its establishment in the early 1990s, the KurdistanRegion has held five parliamentaryterms.