Kurdistan Region holds general election for sixth parliamentary cycle

Shafaq News/ Voting in the general election for the Kurdistan Region's sixth parliamentary cycle began early Sunday, following the completion of special voting for military and security forces on Friday.

The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in Iraq opened 1,622 polling stations across the Kurdistan Region at 7 a.m. local time, for 2,683,618 eligible voters out of 2,899,578 registered voters.

On Friday, the commission announced that 97% of the 215,960 eligible military personnel and internal security forces had participated in the special vote. The process was reported to have been smooth and without significant violations.

1,091 candidates are competing for 100 seats in the Kurdish parliament. Five of these seats are reserved for minority communities, down from 11 after a decision by Iraq's Federal Supreme Court, the nation'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 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.