IHEC Announces 82.48% Turnout in Special Voting Across Iraq

INA

The IHEC's Board of Commissioners press conference.

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced on Sunday that voter turnout for the special voting process reached 82.48%, marking one of the highest participation rates recorded in recent elections.

In a press conference, Omar Ahmed,  Chairman of the IHEC's Board of Commissioners, affirmed that “the Commission maintained complete impartiality towards all candidates,” noting that “the total number of voters in the special voting exceeded 1.1 million.”

Earlier on Sunday, the IHEC confirmed that no malfunctions or delays were reported in the electronic voting system, describing the participation rate as “high and unprecedented.”

IHEC Legal Advisor Hassan Salman stated that “the special voting process concluded with high precision and without any obstacles,” adding that the Commission’s teams “did not record any violations during the special voting process.”

Meanwhile, IHEC spokesperson Jumana al-Ghalai told PUKMEDIA that the total number of candidates for the parliamentary elections reached 7,743, comprising 5,496 male and 2,247 female candidates. Of these, 3,225 were affiliated with political parties, 4,443 were part of coalitions, and 75 were running as independents — including 13 women and 62 men.

Al-Ghalai also provided a breakdown of candidates by governorate:

Erbil: 108 candidates (71 men, 37 women)

Sulaimaniyah: 135 candidates (99 men, 36 women)

Duhok: 59 candidates (39 men, 20 women)

Kirkuk: 249 candidates (173 men, 76 women)

The IHEC commended the cooperation of voters, security forces, and observers for ensuring a smooth, transparent, and credible special voting process.

The special voting for the sixth term of the Iraqi parliament took place on Sunday, with security forces and IDPs voting across all Iraqi governorates. Meanwhile, the general voting for the sixth term of the parliament is scheduled for 11 November 2025. 

According to Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), the total number of voters in the Kurdistan Region stands at 20,063,733. In Iraq as a whole, there are 29,262,588 registered voters, of whom 21,404,291 citizens possess biometric voter cards, making them eligible to participate in the electoral process — equivalent to 73% of the total electorate.



PUKMEDIA