Weekly Statement
• Chairman of the Board of Commissioners: The Electoral Commission safeguards the votes of the electorate and announces its results with all due responsibility and honesty.
• Electoral Commission: Next Tuesday is the last date for distributing biometric cards.
• The Commission continues to issue identification cards to observers and media professionals.
• The Electoral Commission is keen on the safety of the voter by taking the necessary preventive measures on polling day.
Weekly Statement
As IHEC promised to achieve the elections on 10th of October where only eight days and we will conduct our elections , despite the various challenges that we have faced in the work, but the commission announces its full technical, administrative and logistical readiness for the organization of the voting process in cooperation and technical advice from the United Nations Electoral Assistance mission for Iraq, and this was confirmed by H.E SRSG, Mrs. (Jeanine Plasschaert), during the meeting with the Chairman of the BoC, Judge (Jalil Adnan Khalaf), about the mission’s continuous support for these preparations and its unlimited cooperation with the current Board of Commissioners in order to achieve solid elections that meet the confidence of the Iraqi people.
IHEC is working hard now on distributing the remaining biometric voters cards, where the total amounted was approximately (15,000,000) distributed cards. The Commission has prepared an urgent plan to expand the process of distributing cards to be at (8273) polling centers level instead of (1097) registration centers; in addition to run mobile teams with the support of teaching staff through coordinating work with the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the Board of Commissioners decided that the end of the official working day on 10/5/2021 will be the last date for distributing electoral cards, also GEOs should package and packing the remaining voters cards and deliver them to the National Electoral Commission office no later than the end of the official working hours on 10/6/2021.
In order to preserve the rights of people with disabilities to vote, the Electoral Commission has paid great attention to this segment by providing special procedures to facilitate their participation in the electoral process, including assisted voting by relatives up to the fourth degree, as well as the assistance of the station manager. Affirming that the voting stations allocated for them shall meet their conditions, also giving them priority to cast their votes.
In another context related to the electoral observation, IHEC continues its procedures of accrediting (46888) local observers and (305) international media and (1498) public media, also issuing IDs for (640) international observers, and accrediting (207344) political party agent.
IHEC stresses on conducting voting in accordance with the instructions of the National Safety and Health Committee, as it took into account providing all health protection requirements in its procedures, such as masks and sterilizers, also instructing the queue observer to carry out the sterilization process with coordination with civil defense centers to fumigate and ventilate centers and stations before the polling day, In addition, the electronic verification voting device and the marking pen should be carefully and periodically sterilized, with the need to bring a (PCR) examination issued by an approved place within 72 hours, or the vaccination certificate for political party agents and observers, and exclude those who have respiratory symptoms.
In the context of direct communication with the various media outlets because of their active role in education and voters awareness concerning the importance of their participation in this national electoral event; IHEC, represented by the Chairman and members of the BoC, continues holding press conferences to answer media directly to reflect its transparency concern the Iraqi peoples’ affairs, when the chairman of BoC, Judge (Jalil Adnan Khalaf) stressed through his meetings on the importance of wide public participation as: “let the electoral event be an opportunity to create a better reality in our country through active and informed suffrage, and no more from IHEC but to protect these casted votes and announce the results with all responsibility and obligatory trust .”
Media spokesperson
10-3-2021
