Shafaq News / Shafaq News Agency’s correspondent revealed on Thursday that the Election Commission in Erbil had commenced the manual counting of 35 polling stations designated for the special voting of the security forces. He pointed out the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) lead over its counterpart, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), having counted ballots from eight stations thus far.

The Erbil Commission office has started the manual counting of special voting throughout the governorate, covering 35 voting stations, according to our correspondent.

He further stated that eight stations had completed the manual count. The KDP received 1000 votes in Kirkuk, while the PUK received 49 votes. In Nineveh, the KDP got 845 votes, while the PUK got 32 votes.

The special voting conducted in Erbil encompassed Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin, Diyala, and Baghdad. Due to issues in electronically transmitting the results to the Federal Commission, manual counting was carried out.

Additionally, Khalid Abbas, the Director of the Duhok Commission office, announced the initiation of the manual counting process in 28 polling stations in Duhok governorate for special voting in the Provincial Council elections.

Abbas affirmed to Shafaq News Agency that "a technical fault in sending data to Baghdad via satellite prompted the Commission's decision to conduct manual counting of the ballots."

He added that "the manual counting process started today at 08:00 AM and is expected to continue until tomorrow, with the presence of party representatives and election-related organizations." Abbas noted that this glitch affected all polling stations during the special voting.

Abbas clarified that "the manual counting process has started today across Iraq, where 238 stations' boxes will be opened for a manual vote count, and the results will be sent to the Commission in Baghdad."

It is noteworthy that the special voting took place on the 16th of this month, two days before the general vote. The Commission reported a success rate of 94% yesterday, and it is anticipated to reach completion after the ongoing manual counting process in all Iraqi governorates.