Voter turnout in the special elections of the Kurdistan region dropped significantly to 74 percent, compared to previous figures registered in 2018 at 94 percent.
Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced that participation in the special voting declined 18 percent, compared to the 2018 polls.
In an official statement on its website, the Commission announced that the highest participation rate was in Sulaymaniyah, which recorded 78 percent.
Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, ranked second with a participation rate of 75 percent, and the Dohuk governorate recorded a participation rate of 69 percent.
Shams Network for monitoring the elections announced that it had observed several violations during the special polls of the region, and opposition forces said that over half of the security forces did not vote for the authority’s parties.
During a press conference in Erbil, the network's coordinator, Hoshyar Malo, said the voting took place without significant security breaches. But he observed other complications like the absence of some voters’ names, and malfunction in some machines.
Malo also noted a disparity in the application of procedures between centers.
