Kurdistan
Officials examine ballot sheets at a polling station in Erbil on November 3, 2024. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Three complaints about the final results of the Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections have been recorded, the Iraqi electoral body reported on Sunday, the final day for disputing the results.
“So far, three disputes have been filed against the election results; two of these disputes were filed at the Duhok election office and one in the Sulaimani office,” Jumana al-Ghalai, spokesperson for Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), told Rudaw, noting that no complaints came from the Erbil office.
IHEC guidelines stipulate that candidates, parties, and coalitions have a three-day window after announcing the final results to dispute them.
“With official working hours ending, the door to receive disputes will be closed,” Ghalai said on Sunday.
IHEC will have “seven days” to process the disputes.
Iraq's Independent Electoral High Commission (IHEC) in October reported that it had received over 40 complaints during the election campaign.
Komal, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, Baray Gal, and Halwest denounced the election results, alleging fraud and manipulation, and questioned the reliability of the voting machines. The parties pledged to release evidence of alleged misconduct in due course.
Komal announced in October that it would not join the parliament. The Komal leader said that the alleged rigging appears to have been committed from outside the Kurdistan Region but did not blame any party.
The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections in October 20 was a particularly different vote with the legislature downsized to 100 seats from 111 after a landmark Iraqi court ruling that stripped the 11 seats reserved for ethnic and religious minorities, later reinstated a quota of five seats within the 100.
The polls saw a voter turnout of 72 percent, with over two million people across the Region casting their votes, according to IHEC.
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