Erbil election office records two complaints amid high turnout in special vote

Shafaq News/ The Independent High Electoral Commission's office in Erbil reported a 70% voter turnout during the special parliamentary elections by noon on Friday, with only two complaints filed.

Marwan Mohammed, Director of the Erbil Election Office, told Shafaq News, "As the election commission, we believe that today's process was fair and transparent, with no significant violations reported."

He added, "The Erbil office recorded two complaints, and the commission has released its participation report, indicating that 70% of voters had cast their ballots by noon in Erbil."

Mohammed further noted that no observations had been received yet from local or international organizations overseeing the elections. "These organizations have the right to write reports on the process and submit them to higher authorities, after which they will be forwarded to the Independent High Electoral Commission for review," he said.

The special voting day, held exclusively for Peshmerga forces and internal security personnel, began at 7 a.m. with 165 polling centers open across the Kurdistan Region and ended at 6:00 p.m.

By noon, turnout figures showed 77% participation in Duhok, 67% in Al-Sulaymaniyah, and 64% in Halabja. The last estimated percentage of participation in Kirkuk reached 50% by 3:30 p.m.

Earlier today, Judge Omar Ahmed Mohammed, the head of the Board of Commissioners of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), described the voting process for the Kurdistan Parliament’s sixth term as "smooth and orderly."

A total of 1,091 candidates, including men and women, are competing for 100 seats in the regional parliament, five of which are reserved for minority communities as part of a quota system.

According to the election law, at least 30 seats must be allocated to women.

The Kurdistan Region has 2,899,578 registered voters, of whom 215,960 were eligible to participate in the special vote. The remaining 2,683,618 voters will cast their ballots in the general election scheduled for Sunday.