Electoral commission to begin counting votes as polls close across Iraq at 6 pm

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission will begin counting votes immediately after polls close at 6 p.m., deputy spokesperson Nabras Abu Souda told 964media on Tuesday, outlining procedures for transmitting results and handling ballot boxes.

“After 6 p.m., electronic devices will shut down and results will be sent via mobile transmission to the commission’s servers,” Abu Souda said. “Once transmission is completed, station staff will begin manual and electronic counting.”

She said each electronic device prints a results slip, which is then compared to the data stored on the machine. “Counting in every station, as required by law, will be conducted both manually and electronically,” she said.

Polling stations that fail to transmit results within six hours will have their data sent to specialized audit centers for further verification and recounting, Abu Souda said.

Ballot boxes with successfully transmitted results will be transported under the supervision of the High Security Committee to sites overseen by the commission. Boxes affected by transmission problems or discrepancies will be sent to audit centers for review under direct supervision.

The commission said more than 8,700 polling stations and 39,000 individual booths opened across Iraq at 7 a.m. and will close at 6 p.m. “There are 235,000 polling staff managing this process and more than 20 million Iraqis are eligible to participate in the elections,” Abu Souda said.

She emphasized that the commission is coordinating closely with the High Security Committee, which is responsible for maintaining security at polling stations and overseeing the transport of ballot boxes to designated storage sites.

Earlier Tuesday, the commission reported voter turnout of 23.9% by midday, with 4,795,685 ballots cast out of 20,063,773 registered voters.