UPDATE - Police, army cast ballots in Iraqi parliamentary polls

UPDATES WITH MALFUNCTIONING VOTING MACHINES

By Ibrahim Saleh and Aamer al-Hasaani

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi police, military and security personnel on Thursday began voting in the country's second parliamentary election since 2011.

Polling among the general public is set to take place nationwide on Saturday.

The first polling stations opened in Baghdad’s Al-Karkh district on Thursday morning, where some 935,000 members of the Iraqi army and police -- along with Peshmerga loyal to northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government -- will be eligible to cast ballots.

In the Kurdish region, meanwhile, 99 polling stations have been opened for Peshmerga and Interior Ministry personnel.

Shortly before noon, a number of electronic voting machines -- which are being used for the first time in Iraqi elections -- malfunctioned, according to Baghdad security chief Jalil Jabbar al-Rubaie.

“The electoral commission has been contacted to address the problems that have occurred at some polling stations due to the malfunctioning of some electronic devices,” al-Rubaie said without stating the number of polling stations effected.

On Saturday, voting will be opened to the general public in Iraq’s second parliamentary poll since U.S. forces withdrew from the country in 2011.

The election will see more than 7,000 candidates compete for seats in Iraq’s 328-member national assembly.

Roughly 24 million Iraqis are registered to take part in the polls.