Iraq’s election commission has said that the results of Saturday parliamentary elections will be announced 48 hours after the polls closed on Saturday evening. According to Iraq’s election commission, the turnout which stood at 44 percent was lower than any other elections since 2003. The record low turnout was partly blamed on a curfew and restrictions […]
Iraq’s election commission has said that the results of Saturday parliamentary elections will be announced 48 hours after the polls closed on Saturday evening.
According to Iraq’s election commission, the turnout which stood at 44 percent was lower than any other elections since 2003. The record low turnout was partly blamed on a curfew and restrictions on movement of vehicles which was imposed due to security concerns.
For the first time, an electronic system was used to count the votes in order to reduce electoral fraud.
More than 7,000 candidates were running for 329 parliamentary seats in 18 provinces.
Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, who heads the Nasr (Victory) coalition, is hoping to remain in office, but he has faced other Shia election blocs like Fatah alliance headed by Hadi al-Amiri.
The have been some reports of irregularities in polling stations in some parts of the country including capital Baghdad as well as the Kurdish region.
