On 30 April Iraqi citizens will elect its Council of Representatives (CoR).
Within 30 days of when the CoR first convenes, its members will elect the country’s President. He will then choose a Prime Minister from the new parliament’s majority coalition.
9,040 candidates, including 2,612 women, will vie for the 328 seats.
The voting system
The electoral system is known as open list. Voters will be able to choose a political entity and a candidate – or just an entity (or party), which may be a coalition or even an independent candidate.
The candidates
According to the BBC, no single party is expected to win a majority, although the front-runner is thought to be the Shia-dominated State of Law alliance.
This is the party of the country’s current Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, who’s seeking a third term.
Who can vote?
Anyone who can prove they’re an Iraqi citizen over the age of 18, who hasn’t spent more than five years in prison for a crime – and who is registered to vote. Voters must also have an electronic card.
How is technology improving these elections?
In 2013, the Independent High Electoral Commission decided to begin to implement automated voter registration (AVR), to prevent fraud and improve the accuracy of the voter list.
It also announced its intention to implement electronic voting by 2018.
The AVR will ultimately register people via biometric information. For these elections, registration will take place using the new electronic cards.
The type of electronic card used to authenticate voters in these elections by their biographic data
How do they work?
These cards don’t contain biometric information but will authenticate each voter by comparing data held on them with the voter list. Voters simply place their cards in the verification devices at polling stations.
It sounds like after voters have done this, they’ll also place their thumb onto the devices’ scanner, so that their fingerprints can verify them to vote in future elections.
How will votes be counted?
Votes will be counted by hand at the polls, in front of national and international observers. If the IHEC’s plan is to implement electronic voting then they could adopt a system such as Smartmatic’s voting technology platform
More information
According to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), The Independent High Electoral Commission has taken steps to increase the amount of information available to voters, including publishing election-related material on its website http://www.ihec.iq/en/
The IHEC also has a Facebook page, which you can translate using Google https://www.facebook.com/ihec2013
Further reading
BBC: Iraq General Election begins
Elections in Iraq: April 30 Council of Representatives Elections
Election guide: Republic of Iraq
Daily Sabah (Turkish): The 2014 general election in Iraq and possible spillover for Turkey
