50,000 Kirkukis, mostly Kurds, may lose vote
The reporter also said that if this issue is not fixed, 50,000 votes will be lost in Kirkuk province, more than half of which are Kurds.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Thousands of voters gathered outside the Kirkuk office of the High Election Commission due both to the failure of the voting machines to read fingerprints and after not receiving their voting cards, according to Kurdistan24 reporter Hemin Dalo.
The reporter also said that if this issue is not fixed, 50,000 votes will be lost in Kirkuk province, more than half of which are Kurds.
Meanwhile, the IHEC spokesperson said there will not be enough time to get the voting cards, since there was a five day threshold for voters to get their information renewed before Dec.18.
Regarding fingerprints, the spokesperson added “The problem may be caused by diseases, diabetes, and skin rashes,” he said.
285 candidates will be elected to the Iraqi provincial councils in Kirkuk and 14 other provinces.
The general elections for the Iraqi provincial councils in 15 provinces began Monday morning and will continue until 6:00 p.m. The election is the first of its kind in the province since 2005.
Earlier, Jumana Ghalai, spokeswoman for the Iraqi Independent IHEC, told Kurdistan 24 that the voting time will not be extended after 6:00 p.m., because the electronic voting machines are automatically turned off at that time.
Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq
