The Commission responds to the demands to postpone the Kirkuk elections and confirms the integrity o

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[size=52]The Commission responds to the demands to postpone the Kirkuk elections and confirms the integrity of the voter registry[/size]

[size=45]Yesterday, Sunday, the Independent High Electoral Commission refuted concerns about the possibility of fraud and irregularities in the results of the provincial council polls in Kirkuk, confirming the integrity of the voter registry and the absence of any legal justification for postponing the elections in the province.[/size]
[size=45]The representative of the Kirkuk Governorate, the “Arab Leadership” coalition, Muhaimen Al-Hamdani, had submitted an official request to the Prime Minister and the Election Commission to postpone the Kirkuk Provincial Council elections due to fraud in the voter register and the failure to involve all concerned parties in the updating process in accordance with Article 13 of Election Law No. 4. For the year 2023, he spoke about the presence of more than 250,000 citizens in the registry who transferred their ration cards to Kirkuk, which he considered a legal violation.[/size]
[size=45]According to Al-Hamdani’s request, he considered that holding the elections would cause demographic change and unequal electoral opportunities according to Article 26 and Article 23/third of the Electoral Law, in addition to the Article 13 Committee in Kirkuk not completing its work and tasks yet.[/size]
[size=45]While the head of the media team at the Election Commission, Imad Jamil, responded to what Al-Hamdani said, saying, “The Kirkuk elections cannot be postponed individually according to the law, as elections for all governorates must be held on one date according to the law for governorates that are not organized into a region.”[/size]
[size=45]Jamil confirmed, “We were informed of the Kirkuk voters’ register in a complete and legal manner. It contains all voters from 1957, all those covered by Article 140, and everyone who owned a ration card prior to 2003, along with the process of updating voter data, which included the addition of 80,000 voters.”[/size]
[size=45]He continued, “We presented the voter register for appeal and objections to all concerned parties within a specific period of time, and we did not receive any appeal or objection regarding the register,” considering that “the Kirkuk voter register is one of the solid electoral records in the governorates.”[/size]
[size=45]Jamil called on all objectors to “provide proof and evidence in the event that there are people in the voter registry outside the legal controls for the elections, and we will deal with them with the utmost seriousness.”[/size]
[size=45]According to the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq, 16 alliances will compete for 15 seats in the Kirkuk Provincial Council, as the Kurds will enter these elections with several lists and alliances.[/size]
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