Iraq election commission begins parliament vote recount

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraq’s official electoral commission on Tuesday began a manual recount of votes cast in the country’s May 12 parliamentary polls.

Commission officials will recount all votes cast at 500 polling stations in the northern city of Kirkuk, a commission source, requesting anonymity, told Anadolu Agency.

Ballots cast at polling stations in the Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, Dahuk, Nineveh, Saladin and Anbar provinces will also be subject to a recount, the same source said.

He went on to note that electoral commission officials would also recount votes cast in some other provinces, which, he said, had yet to be named.

The recount will also include ballots cast by expatriate voters in Iran, Turkey, the U.K., Lebanon, Jordan, the U.S. and Germany once the ballot boxes are transferred to Baghdad, the source added.

The vote-recount process is being overseen by a panel of judges who replaced commission officials last month after the latter were dismissed for reportedly “failing to carry out their official responsibilities”.

Foreign diplomats and UN representatives are also expected to monitor the vote recount.

On June 6, parliament called for a manual vote recount following widespread allegations of electoral fraud.

According to official results released after the poll, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Sairoon coalition won 54 seats in the assembly, followed by a Hashd al-Shaabi-led coalition (47 seats) and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's Victory Bloc (42 seats).