Low voter turnout, boycott help to mar elections in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Iraqis voted Sunday in parliamentary elections meant to herald sweeping change to a dysfunctional political system that has dragged the country through almost two decades of deprivation.
A new electoral system made it easier this time for independent candidates to compete, but the vote was expected to merely chip away at the edges of Iraq’s troubles. Traditional political factions, many of them attached to militias, have seemingly insurmountable power, and much of the electorate has become too disdainful of politicians to feel compelled to vote at all.
Turnout appeared to be low at many polling sites, where election workers put in place the new voting system, which uses biometric cards and other safeguards intended to limit serious fraud that has marred past elections.
Voting also was marked by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the activists who thronged the streets of Baghdad and
Iraq’s southern provinces in late 2019. Tens of thousands of people took part in the mass protests and were met by security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas. More than 600 people were killed and thousands injured within just a few months.
Results are expected within the next 24 hours, according to the independent body that oversees Iraq’s election. But negotiations to choose a prime minister tasked with forming a government are expected to drag on for weeks or even months.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, whose chances for a second term will be determined by the results of the election, urged Iraqis to vote in large numbers.
“Get out and vote, and change your future,” said al-Kadhimi, repeating the phrase, “get out” three times after casting his ballot at a school.
The election was the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.