Voter turnout increases at Duhok polling stations after being “below expectations”
Shafaq News/ Polling stations inDuhok province saw an increased voter turnout this afternoon as citizens casttheir ballots in the Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections.
At the start of the day, voterturnout at the polling stations in the province was low, with many stationsappearing nearly empty, aside from a few voters.
Election officials in Duhok toldShafaq News Agency, "The turnout improved significantly in the afternoon,with more citizens arriving at the polling stations."
Earlier today, the spokesperson for the Independent High Electoral Commission(IHEC), Aysar Yassin, stated in a press conference that the participation ratesin the elections as of 12 PM local time were as follows: Duhok: 31%, Erbil:34%, Al-Sulaymaniyah: 29%, Halabja: 33%. Thus, the overall participation ratestands at 31%.
In turn, the IHEC in Duhok announcedthat the voter turnout in the electoral process was “below expectations,”noting that the province used to record the highest turnout rates in previouselections.
Notably, the IHEC opened 1,622polling stations at 07:00 a.m. for eligible residents across the Region, with atotal of 2,683,618 eligible voters out of 2,899,578 registered voters.
The commission announced on Fridaythat 97% of voters in the special voting—comprising 215,960 members of thePeshmerga and internal security forces—had participated, confirming that theprocess ran smoothly with no significant violations reported.
A total of 1,091 candidates fromboth genders are competing for 100 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, five ofwhich are reserved for minority groups. This number has been reduced from 11seats following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court, Iraq's highestjudicial authority.
According to the electoral law, atleast 30 seats must be allocated to women.
The race is spread across fourprovinces: 32 seats in the capital, Erbil, 36 in Al-Sulaymaniyah, 24 in Duhok,and three in Halabja. The five quota seats for minorities are divided asfollows: two in Erbil, two in Al-Sulaymaniyah, and one in Duhok.
The legislative election inKurdistan has been delayed four times over the past two years due to politicaldisputes. It was originally scheduled for 2022.
Since its establishment in the early1990s, the Kurdistan Region has held five parliamentary terms.
