Special voting for military and security forces and internally displaced persons (IDPs) began today, Sunday, while general voting will take place in Iraq next Tuesday. A total of 21,404,291 voters are eligible to participate in the special and general elections for the sixth parliamentary session since 2003.
Today's voting includes 1.3 million members of the security and military forces, along with more than 26,000 IDPs.
The Independent High Electoral Commission stated that members of the army, police, security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Popular Mobilization Forces, and IDPs will cast their votes in the special voting this morning, which will continue until 6:00 PM, at which time the ballot boxes will be closed electronically.
The commission added that voters will cast their ballots at 807 polling centers comprising 4,501 polling stations across the country.
Iraqis will elect a new parliament in a crucial test for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and a system that many young people in the country believe only serves to enrich those already in power.
While many Iraqis remain skeptical, doubting that the upcoming parliamentary elections on November 11 will bring any real change to the country's stagnant politics, the large number of young candidates offers a glimmer of hope. The presence of so many young candidates—for the second time since the 2005 elections—represents a stage of political maturity for Iraqis who were infants or children when former President Saddam Hussein was overthrown, and this could galvanize demands for reform, according to Reuters.
1.3 million security forces begin special voting in Iraq
