Special voting concludes in Iraq, Kurdistan
Shafaq News – Baghdad / Erbil
Polling centers for Iraq’s special vote closed on Sunday evening in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region after a day of mixed turnout.
According to Shafaq News correspondents and spokespersons of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), the Kurdistan Region recorded the highest participation rate, exceeding 97% across its three provinces — Erbil, Duhok, and Al-Sulaymaniyah, while turnout in central and southern provinces ranged between 50% and 85%.
Special voting began at 7:00 a.m. for members of the security forces and Peshmerga within Iraq’s parliamentary elections. A total of 1,313,980 security and military personnel were eligible to cast their ballots at 809 polling centers and 4,501 stations, including 26,538 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at 27 centers and 97 stations.
Read more: Iraq’s 2025 poll: +21M voters, new law, fading monitors, and fierce bloc rivalries
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani congratulated Iraq’s security and military personnel for exercising their constitutional right to vote, urging them to uphold professionalism and protect the electoral process.
الإخوة والأخوات من أبناء قواتنا الأمنية والعسكرية البواسل، نتقدم لكم أولاً بالتهنئة على ممارسة حقكم الدستوري ومشاركتكم الفاعلة والواعية في الانتخابات، واختياركم لممثليكم في مجلس النواب المقبل. وإننا في هذه اللحظة الفاصلة نؤكد أن واجبنا الوطني يحتم علينا تأمين بيئة انتخابية آمنة… pic.twitter.com/DWsOlopLjd
— المكتب الإعلامي لرئيس الوزراء 🇮🇶 (@IraqiPMO) November 9, 2025
