Shafaq News/ Polling stations in Duhok province saw an increased voter turnout this afternoon as citizens cast their ballots in the Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections.

At the start of the day, voter turnout at the polling stations in the province was low, with many stations appearing nearly empty, aside from a few voters.

Election officials in Duhok told Shafaq News Agency, "The turnout improved significantly in the afternoon, with more citizens arriving at the polling stations."

Earlier today, the spokesperson for the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Aysar Yassin, stated in a press conference that the participation rates in the elections as of 12 PM local time were as follows: Duhok: 31%, Erbil: 34%, Al-Sulaymaniyah: 29%, Halabja: 33%. Thus, the overall participation rate stands at 31%.

In turn, the IHEC in Duhok announced that the voter turnout in the electoral process was “below expectations,” noting that the province used to record the highest turnout rates in previous elections.

Notably, the IHEC opened 1,622 polling stations at 07:00 a.m. for eligible residents across the Region, with a total of 2,683,618 eligible voters out of 2,899,578 registered voters.

The commission announced on Friday that 97% of voters in the special voting—comprising 215,960 members of the Peshmerga and internal security forces—had participated, confirming that the process ran smoothly with no significant violations reported.

A total of 1,091 candidates from both genders are competing for 100 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, five of which are reserved for minority groups. This number has been reduced from 11 seats following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court, Iraq's highest judicial authority.

According to the electoral law, at least 30 seats must be allocated to women.

The race is spread across four provinces: 32 seats in the capital, Erbil, 36 in Al-Sulaymaniyah, 24 in Duhok, and three in Halabja. The five quota seats for minorities are divided as follows: two in Erbil, two in Al-Sulaymaniyah, and one in Duhok.

The legislative election in Kurdistan has been delayed four times over the past two years due to political disputes. It was originally scheduled for 2022.

Since its establishment in the early 1990s, the Kurdistan Region has held five parliamentary terms.