Iraq electoral commission concludes hand counting of ballot papers

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Sunday officially ended the hand counting of ballot papers of the provincial elections across all the Iraqi provinces.

Complaints of irregularities and technical errors have led to the recounting of the ballot papers of hundreds of stations across the country, which had conducted the provincial elections through electronic devices.

All the 118 complaints that had been filled are resolved, Imad Jamil, the IHEC spokesperson, told the Iraqi News Agency on Sunday.

The results of the hand-counted paper ballots are not changing the preliminary results significantly, adding that any possible change would be “slight”.

The Commission last Tuesday announced the preliminary results of the provincial elections, the first of its kind in a decade. The turnout stood at 41 percent, marking a decrease of 10 percent compared to the 2013 provincial election.

The final results of the election are expected to be announced on Sunday.

Over 16 million Iraqis across 15 provinces were eligible to participate in the 2023 provincial elections. The election is the first of its kind in a decade. The last provincial election was held on April 20, 2013. In the case of Kirkuk, the oil-rich province conducted its last provincial election in 2005.

A few million voters are not able to vote as they have not renewed their voter registration card which makes them eligible to vote in the election.

Thousands of candidates, as part of 68 parties, coalitions, and alliances, are vying for 275 seats at the provincial councils with an additional 10 more seats for minorities.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) does not monitor the elections, as the Iraqi government did not request the UN to supervise the polls.