The Iraqi election committees recorded a low turnout until 2:00 pm on Sunday, and Al-Jazeera correspondents in several cities reported that.

For their part, Iraqi officials urged citizens to vote to produce a parliament that would represent the masses.

The director of Al-Jazeera's office in Baghdad, Walid Ibrahim, said that the turnout was modest, indicating that the largest turnout would likely be in the afternoon hours.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Ahmed Al-Zawiti, said that the turnout at the polling stations was also weak, pointing out that the low turnout at the polling stations is not in Erbil, where they are located, but in the various regions of the region.

In Mosul (the center of Nineveh Governorate), Al-Jazeera correspondent there, Amir Fandi, explained that the turnout may be lower than what the Kurdistan region witnessed in the first hours of the elections, pointing to estimates that only about 10% came.

The scene was not different in Dhi Qar governorate (south of the country) and Anbar governorate (west of the country), where only a small number of citizens went to polling stations.


Polling equipment malfunctions

During the day, complaints were registered about the failure of voting machines in a number of governorates. The July Election Monitoring Organization reported that dozens of voting machines had stopped in several centers in the governorates of Dhi Qar and Kirkuk. There were also reports of equipment failure in the cities of the Kurdistan region.

In view of this, the Independent High Electoral Commission indicated that it is working to fix these malfunctions and has also replaced some equipment.

The voting process continues until 6 pm on Sunday, and the number of candidates is 3,227, including 950, while the number of seats in the Iraqi parliament is 329. The number of those entitled to vote across the country is about 25 million, including more than 800,000 who voted in the special ballot. last Friday.

Your vote is your future. Today, I was the first to vote in the elections that we promised our people and fulfilled.. O dear people, women, men and youth participated and drew your future in your hands.


Resolve and trust and do not hesitate, your future with your participation.

pic.twitter.com/8SiJhc3ez1

— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

Officials

Iraqi President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi cast their votes in the early legislative elections in Baghdad.

After casting his vote, Al-Kazemi said that all Iraqis are invited to vote and contribute to changing their reality, adding that there is still time for voters to go out to vote.

The Iraqi president said yesterday, Saturday, that the parliamentary elections are an opportunity to build a capable state, stressing the call for Iraqis to participate massively in the elections, and appealed to them that this entitlement be a national moment to correct mistakes, face major challenges, strike corruption, achieve justice in granting opportunities to citizens, work on reviewing the constitution and strengthening The stability and sovereignty of the country, considering that the desired reform is achieved by appealing to the people.

He pointed out that the elections are supervised by a new independent commission composed of Iraqi judges, and that new laws and regulations have been put in place in an effort to ensure the integrity of the elections.

Hundreds of thousands of security forces have been deployed to secure polling stations across Iraq (Anatolia)

security alert

The Supreme Security Committee for Elections announced that it would take special decisions on the general polling day, including closing the country's air and land outlets until six in the morning tomorrow, Monday. The committee also decided to close the entrances to the governorates and prevent the movement of people and gatherings.

Yahya Rasoul, spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in Iraq, said that the security forces are ready to secure the electoral process in the country.

He added that the Iraqi forces are ready to resolutely confront any attempts to compromise the electoral process or voter safety.

For his part, the head of the Independent High Electoral Commission for Iraq, Jalil Adnan, said that the current elections are different from the previous ones in terms of turnout and the change in the electoral system.

Adnan called on Iraqis to participate more in the elections because it is the only way to change the authority in Iraq.