Four parties allege fraud, vote tampering in Kurdistan’s elections

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Four political parties which participated in the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections alleged on Tuesday there were many instances of fraud and violations, and they will release proof soon.

The Iraqi electoral body on Monday announced the preliminary results of the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections, which saw a landslide victory of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) garnering nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal), The People’s Front (Baray Gal), and the National Stance Movement (Halwest) met in Komal’s headquarters in Sulaimani on Tuesday to discuss the elections and the preliminary results. 

“We are currently in the stage of collecting and analyzing evidence, and we are closely investigating the existing evidence,” Bestun Hama Saleh, the head of Komal’s election and statistics office, said during a joint press conference after the meeting.

“In the coming days, we will make all findings public and present them to both the Iraqi parliament and institutions,” he added.

According to Rudaw’s projections, the KDP is expected to secure 39 seats, followed by PUK with 23, New Generation Movement (NGM) with 15, KIU at seven, Halwest with four, Komal three seats, and two for Baray Gal.

The representatives of the four parties said the alleged vote tampering would have a “significant impact” on the election results.

“The vote tampering and fraud had a significant impact on the overall vote count for the various parties. As Baray Goran, we are certain that the announced results do not reflect our true vote,” said Fenik Mohammed, the head of Baray Gal’s election institution.

Some of the representatives present at the presser said they have proof that their parties’ received votes which have since disappeared.

“We are defending every single vote cast by our supporters. We have candidates that could not find their votes [in the totals] nor their families. Over 15 of our candidates in Sulaimani, and eight more in Erbil and Duhok have not had their votes counted,” claimed Rebwar Karim, a leadership member of Halwest.

Earlier on Tuesday, Halwest leader Ali Hama Saleh said in a press conference that the elections were manipulated to serve three parties and his party is rejecting the results.

The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan (IMK) also rejected the results.

Jumana al-Ghalai, spokesperson for Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), told Rudaw on Monday that allegations of fraud and vote tampering are  "completely unacceptable,” and that such accusations are routine for the commission.  

No instances of misconduct or violations occurred during the ballot counting process for the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary election results, Ghalai said, adding the commission faces accusations of violations such as the disclosure of voter choices, coercion, vote forging, and attempts by polling center staff to influence votes could incur punishment, including imprisonment under IHEC rules.
 
Taking phones into voting booths was in violation of the electoral commission’s regulations, but several monitors said some stations did not enforce it.
 
The Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections on Sunday. The polls had a 72 percent voter turnout, and over two million people across the Region voted, according to the IHEC.
 
A total of 1,191 candidates contested the 100-seat legislature, downsized from 111 seats following a major Iraqi federal court ruling in February. 

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