2025 election: Iraq begins voter registration update

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) launched a nationwide voter registration update ahead of the October 2025 parliamentary elections.

The one-month process, running through April 25, covers new registrations, biometric updates, deletions, corrections, and changes for displaced persons and security personnel.

In Basra, the provincial elections office reported moderate first-day turnout. “32% of voters in the province have yet to update their records,” media director Udayd Abdul Baqi told Shafaq News, urging 2007-born citizens—now eligible to vote—to obtain their biometric voter cards.

Separately, Nabrad Omar, head of the Elections Commission in the Kurdistan Region, called on residents of Erbil, Duhok, and al-Sulaymaniyah to visit one of 173 registration centers to obtain or renew their electronic voter cards, noting that voter transfers in areas covered by Article 140 remain restricted, with exceptions for married women and children of eligible voters.

Earlier, IHEC spokesperson Jumana Al-Ghalai confirmed the update was approved by the Board of Commissioners to ensure data accuracy and support broad electoral participation across all 18 provinces.