Over 1,500 Kurdistan Region schools to serve as polling centers
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over 1,500 schools across the Kurdistan Region will be converted into polling centers for Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections and all schools will be closed for a week, Iraq’s electoral commission said.
Starting Thursday, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) will take charge of school buildings from the Kurdish education ministry to begin preparations and set up polling centers, Nabard Omar, director of IHEC’s office in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw on Sunday.
“Voting will be held in 1,516 schools for the sixth session of the Iraqi parliament; 1,312 schools for the general vote and 204 schools for the early vote,” Omar said.
Early voting includes members of security forces.
Education ministry spokesperson Saman Siwaili told Rudaw that “all schools will have a holiday” from November 6 to 12 to allow for election-related preparations and voting.
Iraq will hold federal legislative elections on November 11, with early voting scheduled for November 10.
According to IHEC, more than 39,000 polling stations will be open across 8,703 centers for the general vote. An additional 4,501 stations will be designated for special voting, while 97 polling stations will accommodate displaced voters living in and around camps in the Kurdistan Region.
Muzaffar Abdulrahman, head of IHEC’s security coordination in the Region, said that on the evening of November 6, security forces will be deployed to polling sites. Voting equipment will be transported over the following two days, and ballot papers will be distributed on the eve of the vote.
Each polling center will have three layers of security: the first guarded by ten policemen and an officer, the second by security forces, and the third by Peshmerga and emergency defense units.
Nearly 3.5 million ballot papers arrived in the Kurdistan Region on October 20 in preparation for the elections.
According to IHEC data, 31 political alliances, 38 parties, and 23 independent candidates are contesting the elections. In total, 7,768 candidates - 5,520 men and 2,248 women - are running for 329 parliamentary seats, including nine reserved for minority groups.
Starting Thursday, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) will take charge of school buildings from the Kurdish education ministry to begin preparations and set up polling centers, Nabard Omar, director of IHEC’s office in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw on Sunday.
“Voting will be held in 1,516 schools for the sixth session of the Iraqi parliament; 1,312 schools for the general vote and 204 schools for the early vote,” Omar said.
Early voting includes members of security forces.
Education ministry spokesperson Saman Siwaili told Rudaw that “all schools will have a holiday” from November 6 to 12 to allow for election-related preparations and voting.
Iraq will hold federal legislative elections on November 11, with early voting scheduled for November 10.
According to IHEC, more than 39,000 polling stations will be open across 8,703 centers for the general vote. An additional 4,501 stations will be designated for special voting, while 97 polling stations will accommodate displaced voters living in and around camps in the Kurdistan Region.
Muzaffar Abdulrahman, head of IHEC’s security coordination in the Region, said that on the evening of November 6, security forces will be deployed to polling sites. Voting equipment will be transported over the following two days, and ballot papers will be distributed on the eve of the vote.
Each polling center will have three layers of security: the first guarded by ten policemen and an officer, the second by security forces, and the third by Peshmerga and emergency defense units.
Nearly 3.5 million ballot papers arrived in the Kurdistan Region on October 20 in preparation for the elections.
According to IHEC data, 31 political alliances, 38 parties, and 23 independent candidates are contesting the elections. In total, 7,768 candidates - 5,520 men and 2,248 women - are running for 329 parliamentary seats, including nine reserved for minority groups.