IHEC Sets Date for Starting Election Campaigns

PUKMEDIA

IHEC's logo, voting sheet, and a voter's hand.

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced on Sunday, 13 July 2025, that media campaigns for candidates contesting the forthcoming parliamentary elections will commence on 8 October 2025. The campaign period will run for one month and conclude 24 hours prior to the special voting day.

Mohannad Mustafa al-Sarraf, a member of the IHEC media team, confirmed to Al Sabah that the commission had recently approved the regulations governing campaign activities for the 2025 parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to take place on 11 November 2025.

Candidate Statistics
In a previous statement to PUKMEDIA, IHEC spokesperson Jumana al-Ghalai, confirmed that the total number of candidates standing in the elections has reached 7,926. Of these:

5,701 are male candidates

2,225 are female candidates

Baghdad leads with the highest number of candidates, totalling 2,353, while Duhok has the fewest, with 61 candidates.

Verification of Candidate Eligibility
Ghalai further stated that the IHEC is in the process of submitting the names of all candidates to the relevant authorities for eligibility verification. The bodies involved in this process include:

Iraqi Ministry of Defence

Iraqi Ministry of Interior

Iraqi Ministry of Education

Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education

Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council

Iraqi Integrity Commission

Iraqi Accountability and Justice Commission

Iraqi Criminal Evidence Directorate

Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Interior and other pertinent regional authorities

This comprehensive vetting aims to ensure that all candidates meet the necessary legal and ethical requirements for participation in the upcoming elections.



PUKMEDIA