Smooth balloting process carried out in Iraq

Iraq is waiting for this week’s balloting process, which will decide the future fate of the nation by appointing 328 deputies for the country’s new parliament for a fresh tenure.

Meqdad al-Sharifi, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) electoral department stated that the good sign for the country is people went out and voted for their candidates. The tally reached 60% voting percentage in Iraq, even though the country has several security challenges.

A total of 9,039 candidates competed in this election, which coincided with the election of deputies to provincial councils in the Kurdish region.

44-year-old Abdul Kareem Mohammed from Baghdad, told, “My family and I took part in the election, and I gave my vote to the candidate who will represent me in the new parliament; seeing a large turnout by voters at the election centre in our area made me very happy.”

He added that they had not faced any problems while casting their votes as the balloting centers were secured by imposing security forces.

Fatima Hussein, 26, from Bagdad’s al-Sidiya neighborhood described the elections as “a historic day for Iraqis”.

She remarked, “I was happy to exercise this democratic right in order to chart a new, better future for our country and our generations.”

Raad al-Shammary, 40, of the capital’s Zayouna district, said he voted for his preferred candidate “freely and in a secure environment”. He added, “We hope the election results will help elect competent candidates who are capable of serving the country.”

Impressive Turnout

IHEC spokesman Aziz al-Khaikany said that general balloting was carried out smoothly, assisted by the electronic cards and thumbprint systems.

He remarked that turnout of the citizens at the balloting centers was satisfying and he further added, “Participation in the special balloting for the security forces, the displaced, hospital patients and prison inmates reached a record number of about 91%.”

Independent election monitoring network Eye of Iraq deployed more than 8,000 monitors to follow up on the general balloting process, covering around 60% of election centers across Iraq, said Eye of Iraq member Saad al-Battat.

He said, “There was a large measure of co-ordination between our network monitors, other civil society organizations and representatives of political entities on one hand, and the staff at the balloting centers and stations on the other, to ensure the integrity and safety of the electoral process.”

Hawkar Jatto, head of the Shams network for election monitoring, said around 170,000 local monitors in addition to 2,100 international monitors took part in observing the elections. This number of local and foreign monitors was the largest of its kind in the history of participation in monitoring elections in Iraq” in a decade, he said.

Jatto praised security efforts that accompanied the general balloting process and the commitment by police and army forces to safeguarding voters’ lives.