Iraqi electoral body annuls votes from over 1,000 polling stations
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s electoral commission nullified results from over 1,000 polling stations after receiving hundreds of complaints. At the same time, parliament is discussing a bill that would require a manual recount of all votes.
Acting on nearly 2,000 complaints of voting irregularities, the Commissioners Council of the electoral commission cancelled election results from 1,021 polling stations from nine provinces, overseas, and early voters.
The stations affected include 73 in Erbil, 96 in Sulaimani, 224 in Duhok, 2 in Diyala, 36 in Saladin, 179 in Nineveh, 186 in Kirkuk, 67 abroad, and nearly 100 in the provinces of Baghdad and Anbar.
The council has formed a committee to punish election monitors found to be negligent during the election process and has said it will continue investigating complaints of election irregularities.
Iraq used an electronic voting system for the first time in the May 12 parliamentary election in an effort to stamp out fraud. Parties from across the board, however, said the new system was heavily manipulated and have called for a manual recount or even, in the provinces of the Kurdistan Region and disputed areas, a full do-over of the election.
The Iraqi parliament held a first reading on Wednesday of an amendment to the election law that, if passed, will commit the electoral commission to recounting all votes manually.
“The bill had been prepared by the legal committee to recount votes manually across Iraq,” Ahmed Haji Rashid, a Komal MP in Baghdad, told Rudaw.
The bill demands that the recount is done under the auspices of the court, Rashid added.
The bill also calls for votes from the diaspora and IDPs to be annulled.
A second reading of the bill will take place on Saturday with a vote next Wednesday, if parliament meets quorum.
MPs from Sunni parties, the State of Law, Komal, KIU, and Gorran attended Wednesday’s session of the parliament.
Parliament has already agreed to a manual recount of 10 percent of votes cast nationally and if there is a 25 percent difference between the results of the manual and electronic count, then a full manual recount will take place.
The United Nations has called for the complaints to be thoroughly considered.
“We urge the independent electoral management bodies to adjudicate all appeals properly, fully and in time, to enable corrections of the problems, justice and the timely certification of the final election results,” Jan Kubis, the head of the UN in Iraq, told the Security Council in a briefing on Wednesday.
He said that his office is ready to help with advice and expertise.
Kubis expressed concern about the low turnout of just over 44 percent.
“The decision by more than half of the voting population not to exercise their democratic right sends a strong signal to the elites ruling the country since 2003. I urge the Iraqi political elites to draw the necessary conclusions on the need for improved representation, justice for all, democratic accountability and good governance void of corruption, sectarian quota system, nepotism, and patronage,” he said.
Acting on nearly 2,000 complaints of voting irregularities, the Commissioners Council of the electoral commission cancelled election results from 1,021 polling stations from nine provinces, overseas, and early voters.
The stations affected include 73 in Erbil, 96 in Sulaimani, 224 in Duhok, 2 in Diyala, 36 in Saladin, 179 in Nineveh, 186 in Kirkuk, 67 abroad, and nearly 100 in the provinces of Baghdad and Anbar.
The council has formed a committee to punish election monitors found to be negligent during the election process and has said it will continue investigating complaints of election irregularities.
Iraq used an electronic voting system for the first time in the May 12 parliamentary election in an effort to stamp out fraud. Parties from across the board, however, said the new system was heavily manipulated and have called for a manual recount or even, in the provinces of the Kurdistan Region and disputed areas, a full do-over of the election.
The Iraqi parliament held a first reading on Wednesday of an amendment to the election law that, if passed, will commit the electoral commission to recounting all votes manually.
“The bill had been prepared by the legal committee to recount votes manually across Iraq,” Ahmed Haji Rashid, a Komal MP in Baghdad, told Rudaw.
The bill demands that the recount is done under the auspices of the court, Rashid added.
The bill also calls for votes from the diaspora and IDPs to be annulled.
A second reading of the bill will take place on Saturday with a vote next Wednesday, if parliament meets quorum.
MPs from Sunni parties, the State of Law, Komal, KIU, and Gorran attended Wednesday’s session of the parliament.
Parliament has already agreed to a manual recount of 10 percent of votes cast nationally and if there is a 25 percent difference between the results of the manual and electronic count, then a full manual recount will take place.
The United Nations has called for the complaints to be thoroughly considered.
“We urge the independent electoral management bodies to adjudicate all appeals properly, fully and in time, to enable corrections of the problems, justice and the timely certification of the final election results,” Jan Kubis, the head of the UN in Iraq, told the Security Council in a briefing on Wednesday.
He said that his office is ready to help with advice and expertise.
Kubis expressed concern about the low turnout of just over 44 percent.
“The decision by more than half of the voting population not to exercise their democratic right sends a strong signal to the elites ruling the country since 2003. I urge the Iraqi political elites to draw the necessary conclusions on the need for improved representation, justice for all, democratic accountability and good governance void of corruption, sectarian quota system, nepotism, and patronage,” he said.