Shirwan Zirar, the spokesperson for the independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC), announced on Monday that they removed the provision for the ration card document after calls from Kurds living in diaspora and the Kurdistan Region presidency.
Voters have to prove they currently hold Iraqi citizenship by providing one of these four documents: the Iraqi identity card, Iraqi passport, Iraqi citizenship form, or Iraqi national card.
Registrants’ names will be checked against an Iraqi database.
Registration will continue through the 23rd of September until the 25th during which period they may also vote.
Diaspora Kurds have complained they did not have ration card, preventing them from registering to vote. The registration process began on September 1.
Iraq has not held a census for decades so relies on the ration card to determine place of origin of citizens. The cards were introduced during the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food Programme in the mid-1990s.
Kurds in diaspora had believed that the requirement of the ration card was unrealistic as many have lived abroad for several years, even decades, and no longer have this document.
Comments and posts on social media in the past showed Kurds’ frustration and anger with the process. Rudaw English had reached out to some to hear their thoughts.
The Kurdistan election commission has activated a website that allows the Kurdistan Region and Kurdistani diaspora to register their names to vote in the upcoming independence referendum.
Eligible voters can visit www.khec17.net in English or Kurdish to fill in an online registration form.
The website, available in Kurdish, Arabic, and English, cannot be accessed from inside the Kurdistan Region.
Following registration, the voter will receive an activation email.
The local vote will take place on September 25.
The Iraqi parliament has authorized Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to take any measures against the referendum process taking place in the Region and Kurdistani or disputed areas outside of the Region’s administration but under its control.
