Iraq's supreme court on Thursday ordered a manual recount of last month's legislative elections but rejected the invalidation of ballots from abroad and from voters displaced by the conflict with ISIS.
The court found that the decision by parliament to order a manual recount in response to allegations of electoral fraud did not violate the constitution, its president Medhat al-Mahmud told a news conference.
The May 12 vote was won by cleric Moqtada Sadr's electoral alliance with communists.
The result was contested -- mainly by the political old guard -- following allegations of irregularities in the election, Iraq's first since the defeat of ISIS.
But the court ruled that the cancellation of overseas, displaced, and Peshmerga ballots was unconstitutional.
Parliament had cancelled some results such as overseas and displaced votes by amending the election law this month.
The recount process has already begun after judges took over leadership of Iraq's Independent High Elections Commission. But it's not clear whether it would change the outcome of the vote.
Thursday’s verdict is final and not subject to appeal.
