Peregraf- The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has fined 292 candidates and entities for violating campaign regulations ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections set for November 11, 2025.
IHEC spokesperson Jumana Ghalai told Peregraf that the fines were imposed in line with the Board of Commissioners’ resolutions. Of the total, 194 violations were committed by men, 42 by women, and 56 related to campaign slogans and banners.
Iraq is preparing for its sixth parliamentary elections, with campaigning having kicked off on October 3 and set to continue until November 8. This year’s contest is expected to be one of the largest in the country’s history, with 21,404,291 citizens registered through biometric data to cast their votes.
More than 21 million Iraqis are eligible to participate, including 3,068,384 voters from the Kurdistan Region—representing 14.3% of the national electorate.
Across Iraq, 7,768 candidates are competing for seats in the 329-member parliament, of whom 71% are men (5,520 candidates) and 29% are women (2,248 candidates). In the Kurdistan Region, 303 candidates are in the race, fielded by major political parties, emerging movements, and independents.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leads with 88 candidates, followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with 71. Other contenders include Rawti Halwest (Stance Movement) with 32, New Generation with 25, the People’s Front with 20, the Kurdistan Islamic Union with 16, the Kurdistan Justice Group with 14, the Social Democratic Party with 13, and the Iraqi Turkmen Front with nine. Additionally, 15 independent candidates are running outside of party lists.
The Kurdistan Region is allocated 46 seats in Iraq’s parliament, including two Christian quota seats—one each in Erbil and Duhok. No minority quota seats are assigned to Sulaymaniyah.
With election day less than a month away, IHEC has stressed that compliance with campaign rules remains critical to ensuring a fair and transparent process.