Iraqi Parliament approves manual vote count across country, freezes Electoral Commission

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a majority vote on Wednesday, the Iraqi Parliament decided to freeze the work of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), assigning nine judges to run the commission to facilitate a manual recount of votes for the entire elections process across Iraq.

In an emergency meeting attended by 172 MPs, the Iraqi Parliament voted to dismantle the work of the current IHEC commissioners, designating nine judges to take over the operation of the electoral commission.

The Parliament also approved a motion to manually recount votes for the May 12 elections across the country.  

According to the proposal released on its website, the Iraqi Parliament ordered the IHEC to conduct a manual recount of votes at all ballot stations across Iraq.

It also noted the recount has to be done under the supervision of the Supreme Court Council and with the presence of representatives of the political parties and the United Nations.

The Supreme Court shall assign nine judges to run the IHEC Council and assume the authority of the commissioners’ council, instead of the current council, and a judge to run the IHEC’s offices instead of the current directors, the Parliament motion added.

The measures include canceling votes cast by Iraqis living abroad, those living in camps displaced from the provinces of Anbar, Salahuddin, Nineveh, and Diyala, early votes cast by security forces in the Kurdistan Region.

The decisions have been made “due to legal and technical violations in the election process,” the motion explains, and “to protect the democratic process in a way that will secure the integrity and fairness of the elections.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany