Peregraf- The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced on Sunday that 98% of preparations for Iraq’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 11, have been completed. Ballot papers and electronic voting devices have arrived at Commission offices in Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, and Duhok and have already been inspected.
Schools will be handed over to the IHEC on November 6 in order to begin transferring voting equipment to polling centers, with final preparations to be completed within days.
Nabard Omer, head of the Kurdistan Region Elections Body within IHEC, told a press conference that the main technical issue in the previous election—fingerprint-reading failures—has now been resolved through the installation of face-recognition devices.
“We assure that fraud will not take place,” Omer said. “After polls close at 6:00 p.m. and electronic results are released, all ballot papers will again be manually separated and counted in the presence of the representatives of political parties and observers for confirmation.”
This year, the Commission has expanded restrictions: while mobile phone use was previously prohibited, voters are now barred from bringing mobile phones inside polling centers entirely.
Omer also stressed that no curfew will be imposed between cities or at airports on election day, allowing normal movement.
Earlier today, the IHEC’s Kurdistan Region Elections Body met with consuls and foreign envoys in Erbil to brief them on preparations and steps taken to address issues from previous elections. Omer said roughly 10 international organizations and consulates have registered to monitor the vote, with more expected to register in the coming days.
IHEC reported that out of 388,000 voter cards issued or renewed for this election, 323,000 have already been collected by voters. About 41,000 of the remaining 65,000 cards will be delivered to IHEC centers tomorrow. Voter cards will continue to be distributed until November 5, and the Commission urged citizens to collect theirs before the deadline.
The IHEC added that political parties are campaigning “in a modern way,” and only eight violations have been recorded so far across the Kurdistan Region’s three provinces.