Iraq's Election Commission Grapples with Logistical Challenges in Upcoming Dual Elections

Shafaq News/ A member of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) unveiled a myriad of looming "difficulties and obstacles" expected to plague the concurrent execution of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan region, and the governorate council elections.

Dawood Salman, the Commission's Director of Procedures and Training, said that the upcoming governorate council elections, slated for December 18, "operate on an independent timeline, unhindered by the elections in the Kurdistan region."

Salman, however, cautioned, that "the parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan region is a major challenge, primarily due to the insufficiency of the existing election timeline."

The official in the commission highlighted the strenuous logistical and technical milieu currently hampering the execution of the Kurdistan regional parliamentary elections.

"The reception mechanism of the results poses a formidable obstacle," Salman continued, "given that both the regional parliamentary elections and governorate council elections are of electronic nature, a potential collision course is predicted in terms of converging election results onto a singular server, necessitating the deployment of additional servers to ensure timely conduct."

Earlier in the month, on June 15, President of the Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, convened a meeting with an IHEC delegation, flanked by the UN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. The assembly was held to deliberate upon the groundwork for the imminent Kurdistan parliamentary elections.

Earlier this year in March, Barzani issued a regional decree, setting November 18 for the parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan region.