Shafaq News/ Iraqis started on Sunday voting in a general election, their fifth legislative elections since the fall of the regime of late President Saddam Hussein at the hands of US forces and their allies in 2003.

The election was held several months early under a new law designed to help independent candidates - a response to mass anti-government protests two years ago. 

Polling stations scattered across the country opened their doors at 7:00 local time to voters amid international supervision and strict security measures, as 23 million voters are eligible to vote to select 329 candidates for the parliamentary session, in which 57,834 polling stations were included.

The President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani in Erbil, and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Baghdad, were the first to vote.

Last Friday, 821,800 out of 1196524 voters (69%) of Soldiers, prisoners, and displaced people voted in special early polls in Iraq.