Kurdistan Region voting faces challenges: Fingerprint issues and device malfunctions

Shafaq News/ The voting process in the Kurdistan Region, which began on Sunday, faced some issues, most notably the failure to register fingerprints for some voters, particularly the elderly.

Shafaq News Agency correspondents explained, "Voting device malfunctions were promptly addressed through repairs or replacements; however, hundreds of voters remain unable to cast their votes."

Additionally, polling devices experienced a problem reading the voting cards due to a malfunction in the SIM card reader.

Voting for the sixth round of the Kurdistan Parliament elections commenced on Sunday following the completion of the special voting for military and security forces two days earlier.

The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq (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.