Observers record +3,700 irregularities in Iraq’s special vote
Shafaq News – Erbil
A total of 3,747 electoral violations were recorded across Iraq by 2:00 p.m. Sunday during the special vote, a member of the Election Monitoring Networks Coalition told Shafaq News.
Coalition member Hoshyar Malo said the breaches ranged from procedural errors to serious violations of ballot secrecy, including cases of voters photographing their ballots or taking group selfies inside polling stations — “an explicit breach of the secrecy of voting guaranteed by the constitution.”
Other recorded violations included continued campaigning near polling centers, obstruction of voter access, the presence of unauthorized individuals inside polling stations (18 cases), exclusion of observers or political agents (60 cases), and group voting (48 cases). Voting operations were suspended at more than 41 stations, while deliberate disruptions were reported in 29 cases.
Malo said 29 formal complaints had been filed so far, alongside three incidents of vandalism or attempted theft of voting machines in the provinces of al-Anbar, Basra, and al-Sulaymaniyah.
Salah Aribi, representative of the Shams Network for Election Monitoring — also part of the Coalition — said that several electronic polling devices and cameras malfunctioned in Kirkuk, but the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) responded promptly by repairing or replacing the faulty equipment.
“The process in Kirkuk remains consistent with IHEC regulations,” Aribi said, adding that no incidents of voter pressure or interference had been recorded.
The Shams Network documented 301 violations nationwide on Saturday during early campaigning for the upcoming parliamentary polls.
This election marks Iraq’s first parliamentary vote since 2003 to proceed without international observation. Only a handful of local NGOs have been allowed to monitor the process under restrictions, raising concerns over transparency and credibility.
Read more: Iraq’s elections under a shrinking lens: international oversight fades away
