The Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq said that the manual recount of votes for the legislative elections will be limited to the centers whose results are contested, provided that there is evidence that requires manual counting and not the electoral process itself, while Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi stressed that the objection to the election results must be Within the applicable legal procedures.
The Council confirmed that there were appeals that were submitted incorrectly to the judicial authority directly, but it returned them to the Commission Council as the competent authority to consider the appeals, noting that the owners of the appeals can submit their objections to the Commission’s results to the judicial authority again.
The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq announced that it had received hundreds of appeals against the results of the parliamentary elections that were held on the tenth of October.
The commission said that the total number of complaints about the election results exceeded 1,300, explaining that the appeals include 361 complaints for public voting, 27 for private voting, and 9 complaints about manual counting and sorting processes, without further details about their nature.
It is scheduled to resolve the Electoral Commission to respond to the appeals within two weeks from the date of closing the doors for receipt, and in the event of the issuance of the appeal decisions, the results of the elections will be sent to the Federal Supreme Court for ratification in its final form.
Protests continue and the Green Zone is closed
Supporters of the factions opposed to the results of the parliamentary elections in Iraq continue their sit-in near the Green Zone in Baghdad, amid tight security measures.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Baghdad said that the protesters are demanding accountability for those they described as manipulators in the election results, referring them to the judiciary and recounting the votes manually, as well as accusing the United Nations mission of colluding with local and foreign parties to alter the results.
Today, Wednesday, security forces closed the Green Zone (central Baghdad), in addition to the "two-story" bridge leading to it;
In conjunction with the continuing protests rejecting the results of the parliamentary elections.
Anadolu Agency quoted a police officer as saying that the security forces in charge of protecting the Green Zone completely closed the area and prevented entry to it, except for permit holders, and also closed the two-story bridge leading to the area.
The officer - who asked not to be named - explained that the closure coincides with the sit-in of hundreds of supporters of Shiite political parties rejecting the results of the parliamentary elections in front of the gates of the region.
Over the past two days, Baghdad and other provinces in the south of the country have witnessed sporadic protests by supporters of the forces and factions objecting to the election results.
The German news agency quoted demonstrators as saying that the vigils and sit-ins will continue until the Electoral Commission announces the re-counting and recounting manually, and "expose the cases of fraud and manipulation that accompanied the electoral process, and reassure the audience of the parties and know the fate of their votes."
On October 13, Shiite forces - including influential factions - warned that proceeding with these results threatens civil peace in the country;
This raised fears of a possible outbreak of infighting.
According to the preliminary results, the Sadrist bloc - affiliated with Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr - won 73 seats out of 329, while the "Progress" bloc - led by the dissolved Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi (Sunni) - won 38 seats, and in the third place came the "Progress" bloc. State of Law" - led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki - with 34 seats.
The "Al-Fateh" alliance - a political umbrella for the armed factions - is the most prominent loser in the recent elections, with 16 seats, and it came second with 48 seats in the 2018 elections.