Iraq Election 2021: Special voting begins across country
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Members of Iraqi security forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, inmates, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) took to polling stations Friday morning to cast their ballots in a “special vote,” two days ahead of the general election.
Voting centers across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, opened up at 7:00 a.m. Erbil time and will close at 6:00 p.m.
Members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are excluded from the special voting day.
Over 1,750,000 members of the security forces are eligible to vote on Friday. In total, 677 inmates can vote, according to Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).
Members of the Kurdistan Region's security forces early Friday headed to designated polling stations to cast their ballots on "special voting" day, two days ahead of the general election.
— Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) October 8, 2021
📸 Renas A. Saeed & Hero Mawludi / Kurdistan 24
Read More: https://t.co/iLtJTwjaxN pic.twitter.com/yQ080anQa9
More than 120,000 IDPs are registered to vote across 17 provinces in the country, most of whom reside in the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region police, the Zeravani forces, and the Peshmerga forces are voting on Friday.
The IHEC has designated 595 polling centers, which accommodate 2,584 stations for the special voting day.
Members of the Iraqi Special Forces in Kirkuk are participating in the special voting of the country's 2021 elections.
— Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) October 8, 2021
📸Soran Kamaran/Kurdistan 24 pic.twitter.com/XClH3OJ02h
Both the United Nations and the European Union have deployed their electoral observation missions to monitor the process.
