ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Around 26,000 displaced persons in Duhok province are eligible to vote at nearly 100 polling stations inside and outside displacement camps, according to Iraq’s electoral commission.
“Their voting card is ready [to be picked up], and they can vote,” said Khalid Abbas, head of the Duhok office for Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) told Rudaw on Sunday.
Abbas added that Duhok province hosts the largest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) participating in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, while Sulaimani has the fewest.
The federal legislative elections are scheduled for November 11, with an early vote a day prior. The 329-seat parliament includes 320 general seats and nine minority quota seats. Campaigning began on October 3. Nationwide, more than 39,000 polling stations have been designated for general voting across 8,703 voting center centers, while 4,501 stations are set up in 809 centers for early voting.
As of May, 21,000 Yazidi families from Nineveh's Shingal (Sinjar) district remained in the Kurdistan Region. They are currently settled in 14 camps and other locations across Duhok province, with some living outside formal camps.
Abbas said that “those who are registered can vote in Duhok, but those who have not registered must return to their own areas to vote.”
In 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) overran large parts of northern and western Iraq, launching a wide-scale assault on the Yazidi community in Shingal, killing and abducting around 9,900 Yazidis. The United Nations has recognized the atrocities as genocide and reported that up to 200,000 Yazidis were displaced from Shingal, many of whom resettled in camps across Duhok.
More than a decade after the ISIS assault, most of the Yazidi population remains displaced, unable to return home due to security concerns, political disputes, and the slow pace of reconstruction. The presence of multiple armed groups in Shingal has also contributed to instability, discouraging returns.
For this election, 945,000 people in Duhok province are eligible to vote.
According to the final results of the 2024 population and housing census, Iraq’s population stands at 46.1 million, with around 27 million eligible voters aged 19 and above. However, only citizens with biometric voting cards will be allowed to participate in the polls.
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