IHEC says local election in Diyala is a success with high voter turnout
Shafaq News/ The special election for provincial councils in
Diyala saw a turnout of 78% on Saturday, Diyala's office of Iraq's Independent
High Electoral Commission (IHEC) reported on Saturday.
The commission's media director, Salam Mahdi, said that
45,420 people had participated in the special election, out of a total of
57,404 eligible voters.
Mahdi said that the election proceeded smoothly and without
any major security complications. He added that the final results of the
election will be announced after the general election, which will be held on
Sunday.
He said that 7,404 members of the security forces and
al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) had cast their ballots in
143 polling stations at 44 centers.
IHEC spokesperson, Jumana al-Ghalai, told Shafaq News Agency
that special election for provincial councils in Iraq, which is open to members
of the security forces, displaced people, and prisoners, saw a turnout of 38%
at noon Saturday. She said that the final turnout will be announced in a press
conference in the next few hours.
After years of delay, federal Iraq is finally set to hold
local elections. These elections will pick new members for the provincial (or
governorate) councils, who in turn will select governors and form local
governments. It has been more than ten years since these elections were last
held on April 20, 2013.
Much has changed in national and local politics since then,
making these polls significant in terms of assessing party standings. In fact,
three parliamentary elections have taken place since the last provincial vote.
The councils were dissolved in October 2019, so local politics are completely
out of sync with the national scene.
Some parties did not exist in 2013 but have gained great
power over the last few years. Other parties were powerful in 2013, but have
almost been wiped out in the intervening years. Added to this, governors have
held power with almost no oversight since late 2019, making these elections
absolutely necessary for reforming local government.
Official data showed that 16,158,788 registered voters
across the fifteen federal governorates will participate in this election
cycle, according to the final electoral roll managed by IHEC, the body tasked
with conducting elections in Iraq. In the Kurdistan region, 3,641,566 citizens
are eligible to vote.Several million adult citizens have failed to update their
biometric information, mainly due to apathy, and will not be able to vote.
Voting will take place at 38,040 centers. A total of 6,022
candidates are running, the vast majority of them under the banner of one of 68
parties, coalitions, and electoral alliances approved by IHEC. There are 275
governorate council seats available, with only ten additional quota seats
reserved for minorities.