Iraq holds early voting ahead of parliamentary polls

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – Early voting in Iraq's parliamentary elections began on Friday for some 1.2 million people, including security personnel, prisoners, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps.

Polling stations across the country opened their doors to voters at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) amid international monitoring, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.

On Saturday, the Electoral Commission decided to exclude members of the Hashd al-Shaabi fighting force from the ballot for the security forces and instead include them in the general vote in the normal voting procedure, because its authority did not send its members' names on time.

According to numbers released by the Iraqi Electoral Commission on Thursday, 1,075,727 security personnel, 120,126 IDPs, and 676 inmates in prisons are eligible to vote on Friday.

The elections are being held under the supervision of about 1,800 international, including European and Arab observers, according to previous data from the Iraqi Electoral Commission.

At least 3,249 candidates representing 21 coalitions and 109 parties, as well as independents, are vying for 329 seats in the Iraqi parliament, according to data released by the Electoral Commission on July 31.

About 24 million people out of about 40 million people are eligible to vote in general, the official figures say.

The current parliamentary term was set to end in 2022, but after widespread popular protests deposed the previous government led by Adel Abdul-Mahdi in late 2019, political parties agreed to hold early elections on Oct. 10.

In May 2020, the new government led by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was tasked with managing the transition phase, leading to early elections.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat​​​​​​​