Iraq starts manual vote recount for six provinces

By Anadolu Agency - Jul 10,2018 - Last updated at Jul 10,2018

A member of the Iraqi security forces mans a turret in a humvee outside a warehouse where ballots from the May parliamentary election are stored in the capital Baghdad on Monday, as the electoral commission continued a partial recount of ballots in areas where allegations of fraud were reported (AFP photo)

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s election commission on Monday started a manual recount of votes cast in six Iraqi provinces in the country’s May 12 parliamentary polls, a source with the electoral commission said.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency that the votes were being manually recounted at the Baghdad International Exhibition, west of the capital.

He said the recount covers ballot boxes from the southern provinces of Basra, Maysan, Dhi Qar, Muthanna, Qadissiya and Wasit.

The source expected the recount to complete by the weekend.

The vote recount, the source said, was overseen by judges and in the presence of representatives of political parties.

On Sunday, the electoral commission completed the manual recount of votes from the northern city of Kirkuk after allegations of vote-rigging during the May 12 elections.

The recount came after the Iraqi parliament last month voted in favour of amending Iraq’s election law, allowing votes to be recounted manually.

Shortly afterward, a panel of judges was appointed to assume the responsibilities of the electoral commission, several members of which were sacked amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud.

Influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s Sairoon coalition dominated the polls, winning 54 parliamentary seats, according to official results. Sairoon was followed by a Hashd Al Shaabi-led coalition (47 seats) and Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s Victory Bloc (42 seats).

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