Iraq announces success of early voting, with turnout of 69 percent – Macau Business

The Iraqi authorities announced Friday the success of the early voting of the parliamentary elections with a 69 percent turnout ahead of snap parliamentary elections this Sunday.

Judge Jalil Adnan Khalaf, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), said in a press conference that the participation in early voting indicates the beginning of successful legislative elections.

Khalaf stressed that no irregularities were registered during the early voting, and the results of early voting will be combined with the result of the Oct. 10 snap elections, which will be announced 24 hours after the end of the general polls.

However, an IHEC statement posted on its official website showed that 821,800 voters cast their ballots out of 1,196,524, which is 69 percent of the early voting voters across the country.

Early voting for Iraqs security forces, prisoners, and displaced people began at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and ended at 6:00 p.m. local time when the electronic devices automatically closed the voting process.

More than 1 million voters from the security forces are scheduled to cast their ballots at 595 polling centers across the country, and more than 120,000 displaced people will vote in 86 polling centers during the day.

The Iraqi parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022, were advanced in response to months of protests against corruption and a lack of public services.

According to the electoral commission, about 24 million Iraqis are eligible to cast their ballots for 3,249 candidates, running individually and within 167 parties and coalitions, vying for 329 seats in the legislature.

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Iraq announces success of early voting, with turnout of 69 percent - Macau Business