Concerns over lack of Kurdish-language content on electoral commission website

NEWSROOM — As the Kurdistan parliamentary elections approach on Oct. 20, concerns are mounting over the lack of Kurdish-language content on Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission website, potentially limiting access to crucial voting information for Kurdish-speaking voters.

The IHEC website, which is regularly updated in Arabic, offers little information in Kurdish despite these elections being specifically for the Kurdistan Region’s legislature. According to IHEC data, more than 2.6 million Kurdistan Region residents are eligible to vote, and there are calls for election information to be made available in Kurdish.

The Kurdish section remains almost empty. The English section has some content, though less current than the Arabic version.

Nibras Abu Suda, IHEC deputy spokesperson, claimed the issue was one of staffing: “We don’t have enough Kurdish programmers to design the website and publish in Kurdish. The head of our website will coordinate with [commission] branches in the Kurdish governorates to solve this issue.”

Article Four of the Iraqi constitution mandates the use of both Arabic and Kurdish in government communications, publications, and official documents.

The IHEC website offers comprehensive election-related information in Arabic, including voter registration, polling station locations, candidate lists, and electoral laws. However, the Kurdish-language section is severely lacking.

This disparity raises concerns about accessibility and inclusivity for Kurdish voters ahead of the upcoming elections.

Hogir Chato, head of the Shams Monitoring Network, which monitors Kurdistan Region elections, said his organization and others met with IHEC’s Erbil branch on Aug. 21 to address the absence of Kurdish content. “We urged them to provide decisions, instructions, and information in Kurdish, especially for the weekly briefings delivered by IHEC’s spokesperson, Jumana Ghalay,” Chato told 964media.

Ghalay did not respond to requests for comment.

Chato also emphasized the need for a Kurdish spokesperson to engage directly with Kurdish media outlets, ensuring accurate communication of election information. “We requested a Kurdish spokesperson to participate in programs on Kurdish media, as relying on translations can sometimes result in missing or inaccurate information,” he said.

IHEC officials acknowledged the issue, noting that while some staff can translate from Kurdish to Arabic, more personnel are needed to handle translations in the opposite direction.

Established following a 2014 vote in the Kurdistan Region parliament, the Kurdistan Region’s own electoral commission provides content on its website in Arabic, English, and Kurdish. However, following a federal court ruling this year, the IHEC is responsible for overseeing the long-delayed legislative elections in the Kurdistan Region.

Campaigning is set to begin on Sept. 16, 2024.

The IHEC website is not the only official site lacking Kurdish content. Websites for the prime minister and the General Secretariat for the Iraqi Council of Ministers also lack Kurdish language updates, though Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s media office maintains English and Kurdish translations of statements on its official Telegram profile. The General Secretariat’s site has a Kurdish section but no content to populate it.