An electronic voting device used by Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission.
Over 7000 still in race
Iraq’s election commission excludes 627 candidates ahead of November vote
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission said Sunday that 627 candidates have been excluded from the November 11 parliamentary elections, leaving 7,440 still in the race.
According to official data, 290 candidates were disqualified under the Justice and Accountability Law, while 337 others faced issues tied to criminal records, forged or missing documents, and other irregularities. The commission said 15 were removed based on recommendations from the Supreme Judicial Council, 10 from the Christian quota, and 163 through substitution requests from political lists.
The announcement follows earlier rounds of disqualification. On Aug. 12, Imad Jamil, head of the commission’s media team, said candidates had been barred under Article 7(3) of Election Law No. 12 of 2018, which requires “good conduct and behavior” and excludes those convicted of corruption or crimes of moral turpitude. He noted that some were also disqualified for forging academic certificates, pending verification from the Ministry of Education.
By Aug. 21, the commission had already reported 581 exclusions based on information from the Accountability and Justice Authority, the Interior Ministry, the Supreme Judicial Council, and oversight bodies such as the Integrity Commission. “We cannot contravene the decisions of the Accountability and Justice Authority, and we are fully committed to implementing all exclusion-related rulings,” Jamil said in a television interview at the time.
