Record turnout marks special elections in Iraq: IHEC

Shafaq News/ Iraq's special election for the provincial councils held today, Saturday, ended with a record turnout of 67%, according to the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).

IHEC spokesperson, Jumana al-Ghalai, reported that more than 706,000 eligible voters cast their ballots, out of a total of 1.05 million eligible voters.

"The election went smoothly and the electronic voting machine reported no failures," she added. "So far, there have been discrepancies between the manual and electronic counts."

She added that the final results of the special election will be announced along with the results of the general election, which will be held on Monday.

After years of delay, federal Iraq is finally holding local elections. These elections will pick new members for the provincial (or governorate) councils, who in turn will select governors and form local governments. It has been more than ten years since these elections were last held on April 20, 2013.

Much has changed in national and local politics since then, making these polls significant in terms of assessing party standings. In fact, three parliamentary elections have taken place since the last provincial vote. The councils were dissolved in October 2019, so local politics are completely out of sync with the national scene.

Some parties did not exist in 2013 but have gained great power over the last few years. Other parties were powerful in 2013, but have almost been wiped out in the intervening years. Added to this, governors have held power with almost no oversight since late 2019, making these elections absolutely necessary for reforming local government.

Official data showed that 16,158,788 registered voters across the fifteen federal governorates will participate in this election cycle, according to the final electoral roll managed by IHEC, the body tasked with conducting elections in Iraq. In the Kurdistan region, 3,641,566 citizens are eligible to vote. Several million adult citizens have failed to update their biometric information, mainly due to apathy, and will not be able to vote.

Voting will take place at 38,040 centers. A total of 6,022 candidates are running, the vast majority of them under the banner of one of 68 parties, coalitions, and electoral alliances approved by IHEC. There are 275 governorate council seats available, with only ten additional quota seats reserved for minorities.