KIU condemns voter intimidation during advance voting

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) said Saturday that security forces were forced to vote for the ruling parties in Friday’s early voting for the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections.

“I condemn the violations that took place yesterday in this beloved city and in many other cities in the Kurdistan Region, where security forces, including the police and anti-terrorism services… were subjected to pressure and intimidation to vote against their will,” said Muthanna Amin, a KIU member of the Iraqi parliament at a press conference in Halabja.

According to Amin, members of the security forces were forced to vote for the ruling parties and forced to take photos of their ballots as proof, which is illegal according to the regulations of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC). .

“Some of these violations also took place in the Kurdistan Region, especially by the two ruling parties, who unfortunately use all the resources of the government and security apparatus from the start of the elections. They are misusing the wealth stolen from the people to influence voters, even buying the conscience of some people,” he said.

After taking photos, some security forces destroyed their ballots, leading to a high number of invalidated votes in Halabja, according to the MP. “Fortunately, many of these people subsequently canceled their votes, even though they took the photos, and the proof is that more than 30 percent of the votes were invalidated,” he said .

Early voting for the long-awaited parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region took place on Friday, ahead of general voting on Sunday.

Dozens of violations were recorded, according to Hogr Chato, head of the Shams election observation network.

Several violations against journalists were also recorded, according to the Organization of Journalists for Rights and Development (RORD), which said Halabja took the lion’s share, accounting for 15 out of a total of 19 incidents reported in the region.

Violations such as disclosure of voter choices, coercion, vote tampering, and attempts by polling center staff to influence votes could be punishable by penalties or even imprisonment. Bringing phones into voting booths violates election commission rules, but several observers said some offices did not enforce the rule.

After numerous reports of violations, IHEC issued a statement Saturday saying that voting machines protect voters’ privacy and that no party, including commission employees, can know the vote’s choice. a voter.

IHEC is looking into all the complaints it has received, particularly those concerning voters who took their phones into the polling booths.

The head of IHEC’s Duhok branch, however, said “incorrect voting” was the reason for most of the spoiled ballots.

“We are also unhappy that the votes were invalidated, but the main reason most of these votes were invalidated was because the voters were not able to vote correctly and they made mistakes in the process vote,” Khalid Abbas told Rudaw.

There were more than 2,000 invalid ballots in Duhok.

Amin said the KIU would not approve the election results. “Refusing to sign would be the biggest objection to these votes. The commission must take legal steps to resolve these issues,” he said.

Ninety-seven percent of early eligible voters cast their ballots, with Duhok province recording the highest turnout, according to data released by the electoral commission.