With varying participation rates and massive violations, the Commission closes the polls and ends the elections, 18 DEC

 With varying participation rates and massive violations, the Commission closes the polls and ends the elections, 18 DEC

Shafaq News/ The Election Commission announced, on Monday, the closure of general ballot boxes for the governorate and district council elections, in the 15 governorates that are not organized into a region, amid varying participation rates and a number of electoral and security violations.

The Commission confirmed, in urgent news, that ballot boxes were closed at 6:00 pm on Monday, in all electoral centers distributed in 15 governorates, with the exception of the Kurdistan Region.

As of midday, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Judge Omar Ahmed, announced that the percentage of voting in the general ballot for the provincial and district council elections amounted to only 17 percent.

Baghdad and the governorates of Diyala, Babel, Karbala, Dhi Qar, Diwaniyah, Muthanna, and Anbar recorded a weak participation rate in the general vote for the governorate council elections, as of midday.

Former member of the Election Commission, Saad Al-Rawi, noted the presence of delays in some polling stations, and told Shafaq News Agency that the participation rate will not exceed the rates of previous sessions, which usually range between 25 to 35%.

Security aspect

In this context, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, considered the polling stations “vital targets that must be defended,” moments after the polls closed and the public voting process ended.

Before that, a security source in Najaf reported that an explosion occurred near an electoral center in the Kufa district, in an attack that was the second of its kind targeting electoral centers, after an attack with explosive devices that targeted 4 electoral centers in the governorate.

On Monday morning, the voting process began in the general ballot for the irregular provincial council elections in a region in Iraq, as electoral centers began opening their doors to citizens to cast their votes.

On Saturday (December 16th), the special voting process for the local elections for members of the security forces, displaced persons, and prison inmates took place, and ended with a participation rate of 67%.

Provincial council elections were last held in Iraq in 2013 before they were dissolved by the major demonstrations that swept the country in October 2019 in protest against the deteriorating living and service conditions, the spread of financial and administrative corruption, and the spread of corruption in state institutions and departments.

shafaq.com