Faisal Salisu DambattaMembers of Iraq’s security forces and internally displaced people went to the polls for early voting on Sunday ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Polling stations opened at 04:00 GMT for members of the armed forces, who number 1.3 million out of more than 21 million eligible voters and will be deployed for security duties on election day, according to the state Iraqi News Agency.
More than 26,500 internally displaced people in the country are also eligible for early voting.
The November 11 elections will be the sixth since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein.
More than 7,740 candidates, nearly one-third of them women, are contesting for the 329 seats in parliament.
An old electoral law, revived by parliament in 2023, will apply to the elections, with many seeing it as favoring larger parties.
While around 70 independent candidates won seats in the 2021 elections, only 75 independents are contesting this time.
Observers fear that voter turnout may fall below the 41 percent record low of 2021, reflecting voter apathy and distrust in a country marked by weak governance, mismanagement, and widespread corruption.
Influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has called on his followers to boycott what he described as a flawed election.
Since the US-led invasion, Iraq’s once-oppressed Shiite majority has dominated politics.
Influential Shiite figures, including former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and cleric Ammar al-Hakim, are expected to play a key role in the elections, along with several Iran-backed armed groups.
