Last-minute surge, Turnout surge in Kurdistan’s elections despite fingerprint setbacks
Shafaq News/ The general voting phase of the KurdistanParliament elections has entered its final stretch, with participation ratesrising significantly as voters seek to make the most of the remaining time.
Despite the increased turnout, the Independent HighElectoral Commission (IHEC) reiterated that the voting period will not beextended, stressing that the scheduled time will remain the same and will notbe changed at 6:00 p.m.
The electoral process faced some issues, most notably thefailure to register fingerprints for some voters, particularly the elderly,which resulted in thousands of voters being unable to cast their votes.
The IHEC confirmed receiving reports of these issues frommany centers, where the machines couldn’t recognize some voters’ fingerprints,causing widespread frustration among citizens who were left unable toparticipate.
In an explanation of the issue, the IHEC told Shafaq Newsthat “the reasons are due to factors related to the voters themselves, such asfinger conditions affected by dryness or wounds.”
Nonetheless, the commission assured that “it continues tomonitor the electoral process and provide technical support to the pollingcenters to ensure voting integrity and results accuracy. Preliminary resultswill be announced after the polling stations close and the counting operationsbegin.”
Seat quotas and participants figures
Earlier today, the spokesperson for the IHEC, Aysar Yassin,stated in a press conference that the participation rates in the elections asof 12:00 PM local time were as follows: Duhok: 31%, Erbil: 34%,Al-Sulaymaniyah: 29%, Halabja: 33%. Thus, the overall participation rate standsat 31%.
The commission opened 1,622 polling stations at 07:00 a.m.for eligible residents across the Region, with a total of 2,683,618 eligiblevoters out of 2,899,578 registered voters.
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 witnessed five parliamentary sessions, and this is the sixth.
