"I am sure that elections won't change anything. It will neither solve the problems of salaries, nor improve relations between Kurdistan and Iraq," said university student Hemin Mahmud.
This is the first year he is old enough to vote, but he has decided not cast a ballot.
Parties are gearing up for the election, but on the street, many people are like Mahmud – without hope that the country’s many problems will be resolved.
Hama Ali, 70, is not interested in politics or elections, but he registered with the biometric office after being told that the government wouldn't process his paperwork if he fails to get a voter card.
"Who should I elect?" Ali asked, considering the many candidates. "They all have their interests and become rich by our votes."
Officials from the Iraqi electoral commission said that the numbers of people registering with the biometric office would have been embarrassingly low if the government didn’t require people to obtain a voter card in order to process other paperwork.
Before the government announced this requirement, less than 40 percent of people had registered in Sulaimani province.
But now, "it has exceeded 50 percent in Sulaimani province, 60 percent in Erbil, 58 percent in Kirkuk, and 70 percent in Duhok," said Rizgar Haji, deputy head of the Iraqi electoral commission.
According to Haji, registration in the Kurdistan Region is better than others, with Duhok joining Basra with some of the highest figures.
He dismissed claims that people who fail to register biometrically won't be allowed to vote. "Those who have their names registered on the voter list can vote providing they have their previous voting card," he explained.
Officials from the electoral commission recognize that the low registration rates indicate a lack of interest in the elections.
Under Iraqi election law, a candidate must obtain a minimum number of votes to enter parliament that depends on the number of voters. And each province has a specified number of MPs.
In mid-2016, the electoral commission warned that people were not responding to their calls for biometric registration. In August that year, the commission’s Sulaimani branch met with provincial officals and urged the government to find a way to compel people to register.
In Sulaimani province, 1.3 million people are eligible to vote in the May 12 parliamentary elections. There is no deadline for the biometric registration, according to Ranj Shikri, head of the media office of the Iraqi electoral commission branch in Sulaimani.
