Last-minute surge, Turnout surge in Kurdistan’s elections despite fingerprint setbacks
Shafaq News/ The general voting phase of the Kurdistan Parliament elections has entered its final stretch, with participation rates rising significantly as voters seek to make the most of the remaining time.
Despite the increased turnout, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) reiterated that the voting period will not be extended, stressing that the scheduled time will remain the same and will not be changed at 6:00 p.m.
The electoral process faced some issues, most notably the failure to register fingerprints for some voters, particularly the elderly, which resulted in thousands of voters being unable to cast their votes.
The IHEC confirmed receiving reports of these issues from many centers, where the machines couldn’t recognize some voters’ fingerprints, causing widespread frustration among citizens who were left unable to participate.
In an explanation of the issue, the IHEC told Shafaq News that “the reasons are due to factors related to the voters themselves, such as finger conditions affected by dryness or wounds.”
Nonetheless, the commission assured that “it continues to monitor the electoral process and provide technical support to the polling centers to ensure voting integrity and results accuracy. Preliminary results will be announced after the polling stations close and the counting operations begin.”
Seat quotas and participants figures
Earlier today, the spokesperson for the IHEC, Aysar Yassin, stated in a press conference that the participation rates in the elections as of 12:00 PM local time were as follows: Duhok: 31%, Erbil: 34%, Al-Sulaymaniyah: 29%, Halabja: 33%. Thus, the overall participation rate stands at 31%.
The commission opened 1,622 polling stations at 07:00 a.m. for eligible residents across the Region, with a total of 2,683,618 eligible voters out of 2,899,578 registered voters.
The commission announced on Friday that 97% of voters in the special voting—comprising 215,960 members of the Peshmerga and internal security forces—had participated, confirming that the process ran smoothly with no significant violations reported.
A total of 1,091 candidates from both genders are competing for 100 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, five of which are reserved for minority groups. This number has been reduced from 11 seats following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court, Iraq’s highest judicial authority.
According to the electoral law, at least 30 seats must be allocated to women.
The race is spread across four provinces: 32 seats in the capital, Erbil, 36 in Al-Sulaymaniyah, 24 in Duhok, and three in Halabja. The five quota seats for minorities are divided as follows: two in Erbil, two in Sulaymaniyah, and one in Duhok.
The legislative election In Kurdistan has been delayed four times over the past two years due to political disputes. It was originally scheduled for 2022.
Since its establishment in the early 1990s, the Kurdistan Region has witnessed five parliamentary sessions, and this is the sixth.
