ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Election monitors in the Kurdistan Region reported midday on Friday that they have documented 61 violations during the special vote, including campaigning near polling centers and voters bringing mobile phones into booths.
“We have been monitoring the process with the commission [Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC)] and other [relevant] parties,” said Hogr Chato, the organizer of the Shams network for monitoring elections.
Chato detailed that 61 violations have been recorded, related to campaigning and taking mobile phones into voting stations across Duhok, Erbil, Sulaimani, Halabja, and other electoral constituencies. Some attempts were stopped by the election's security committee members.
Election monitors at polling stations on Friday reported voters bringing phones into the ballot booths, a violation of election regulations.
“If, today, during the special vote you do not stop some types of violations, in the general vote, it will get out of hand [of the IHEC],” Chato explained.
If a ballot is confirmed to be invalid as a result of breaking regulations, other votes cast at the same center could also face invalidation, according to Chato.
He emphasized the IHEC will rely on security camera footage at the polling centers to investigate complaints about violations, noting that severe cases could lead to the closure of a voting center and the punishment of responsible managers.
On Sunday, the IHEC announced it was installing 22,283 cameras across polling centers: four cameras per polling center - two per polling station room within the centers - and four backups,.
Violations included security personnel not intervening when voters bring phones into voting stations, Chato said. He added that they have photo evidence of some violations, which they will publicize and report to the IHEC.
Chato noted that campaigning has occurred near voting centers, with campaign posters still displayed, despite the official campaigning period ending on Tuesday. Violations were recorded in voting centers outside the Kurdistan Region, as well.
There are 165 polling centers opened across the country - 153 in the Kurdistan Region and 12 in Iraqi provinces. The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Body (IHEC) opened centers in Kirkuk, Baghdad, Salahaddin, Nineveh, Wasit, Diyala, and Anbar provinces for the security forces that are on duty outside the Region.
For early voting, 165 polling centers opened - 153 in the Kurdistan Region and 12 in Iraqi provinces. The IHEC opened centers in Kirkuk, Baghdad, Salahaddin, Nineveh, Wasit, Diyala, and Anbar provinces for security forces on duty outside the Region.
Severe violations such as the disclosure of voter choices, coercion, vote forging, and attempts by polling center employees to influence votes can also lead to punishments, including imprisonment, according to Chato.
Aisar Yassin, a spokesperson for the IHEC, said during a press conference that the overall early voting turnout was at 70 percent until noon.
The IHEC reports detail the highest voter turnout in Duhok province at 77 percent and the lowest in the region at 64 percent in Halabja province and Wasit province at 3 percent outside Iraq.
The head of the mentoring network added that some voters’ fingerprints were not read by the machines.
“They [voters] are responsible because the commission more than once prolonged the period so that people can check their fingerprints if they are uncertain,” Chato said, “and they have not done so.”
In August, a complaint filed by over a dozen people from the Kurdistan Region’s provinces was before Iraq’s top court, decrying issues of voting machines not recognizing their fingerprints.
For the first time, the Kurdistan Region is holding its parliamentary elections with the use of electronic voting machines. The IHEC announced it has printed over 3 million ballot papers for the public vote and 251,700 sheets for special voting.
Around 215,960 members of the security forces are eligible to vote early on Friday. The polls opened at 7 am and will close at 6 pm.
The general vote for the long-delayed Kurdish parliamentary elections is on Sunday.