One million Iraqis overseas face being unable to vote
Up to one million Iraqis living abroad will be excluded from voting in the October elections, its Independent High Electoral Commission ruled yesterday.
Officials said the process of updating data and issuing biometric cards for voters abroad would take about 160 days, but the deadline for registration was only 40 days away.
Iraq’s foreign ministry was unable to conduct voter registration or the elections at the country’s embassies and consulates alone, the commission said.
The decision could be a blow to Sunni candidates who depend on voters abroad, particularly those who fled violence after the 2003 US-led invasion. Kurds may also be affected.
About one million eligible voters live abroad, commission spokeswoman Jumana Al Ghalaie said.
Iraq’s last national elections, held in 2018, were mired by manipulation, mainly among displaced people and those living overseas, forcing the authorities to cancel ballots from those groups.
An Iraqi journalist in London, Othman Al Mukhtar, described the move as “unconstitutional”, saying it would affect Sunnis more than anyone else.
“It is known that the majority of those who have sought shelter abroad since 2003 are Sunnis,” and the move would affect the outcome in mixed and Sunni-majority areas, he said.
Al Mukhtar said the commission should find solutions, such as opening polling stations abroad with UN supervision.
In Toronto, Canada, Haifa Al Mahdawi is dismayed.
“In my opinion, all these justifications are wrong and the grave mistake is to confiscate the citizen’s right to vote wherever he or she is,” Dr Al Mahdawi, a statistician, said. “No one has the right to do so.”
This year, the Iraqi government set October 10 for the elections, earlier than scheduled.
An electoral law introduced in 2019 in response to demands by pro-reform protesters, divides Iraq into constituencies, giving independents a chance to win.
In previous polls, Iraq was treated as one unit and all parties took seats depending on their share of the national vote.