weekly Statement
- The Board of Commissioners (BoC)holds its regular and special meetings to organize the procedures of the electoral process.
- The (BoC)approves a mechanism of conducting draw to choose numbers for coalition, political parties, and individual candidates.
- ِ A delegation from the International Legal Institute visited the Chairman of (BoC).
- The (IHEC) initiates the accreditation of international organizations to monitor the electoral process.
- The Kirkuk voter registry audit committee continues its field work.
- The (IHEC) closed the stage of updating the voter register on the 20th of August.
- The (IHEC) has closed the stage of receiving lists of candidates for alliances and parties On the 22nd of August.
weekly Statement
The Board of Commissioners (BoC) of the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq (IHEC) held its regular and special sessions from the 20th to the 22nd of August 2023; to approve the recommendations submitted by the International Observers Registration Committee, which include the accreditation of international organizations to observe the electoral process, and to agree to extend the period of receiving lists of candidates for the upcoming local elections until the end of the official working hours on Tuesday, the 22nd of August 2023, this resulted in the registration of (6022) candidates including individual candidates, and candidates affiliated with (66) coalitions and political parties, also they discussed ensuring the rights of women-candidates in the system of registration and certification of candidates.
In the framework of communication with international organizations, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Judge (Omar Ahmed Muhammad), received a delegation from the International Legal Institute and Human Rights (IILHR), in the presence of two members of the Board of Commissioners, both Judges (Ali Rashid Muhammad), and (Fayyad Yassin Hussein); in which a detailed explanations about (IHEC)’s work mechanism and the ongoing preparations for holding the (Governorates Council Elections on 18th December 2023) . The delegation expressed the organization’s full readiness to provide the necessary support for the Commission’s work in consolidating the values of democracy and respect for human rights. It was agreed to conclude a memorandum of understanding between the two parties through which the organization is committed to developing the capabilities of employees and spreading the principles of human rights in (IHEC).
On the technical side, the Operational Committee of (IHEC), held its periodic meeting in the presence of the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Judge (Omar Ahmed Muhammad) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Judge (Abbas Al-Fatlawi); to discuss a lot of axes related to the accomplished stages of the work to aligning them with the schedule for the upcoming Governorates Council Elections. They also discussed the mechanism for examining the biometric voters’ cards to be printed next September to be matched with the voter register, to ensure integrity and effectiveness of the data.
Under the amended Governorates Council Elections‘ Law for 2023, Article (13) thereof, a member of the Board of Commissioners and head of the Kirkuk voter registry audit committee, Dr. Fattah Muhammad Hussein, chaired a meeting in the governorate which included number of governorate’s deputies ( the Director General of the Planning and Follow-up Department, and the Director General of the Kirkuk Notary office), for field communication with the concerned departments in Kirkuk Governorate; to match the data of the registered voters within the (1957) census, the returning deported voters who bypassed the fact-finding committee, and the voters from the governorate’s residents whose residence is proven through the ration card before 2003.
In terms of security, (IHEC) participated in the meeting of the Supreme Security Committee for Elections, represented by the member of the Board of Commissioners, judge (Amer Al-Husseini), and the Director General of the Department of Political Parties and Organizations Affairs, Dr. (Heiman Tahsin Hamid), which was held at the headquarters of the Joint Operations Command; to discuss the reports resulted from field visits made by members of the Security Committee to the governorates, and to identify the most important logistical needs that contribute to the success of the work in preserving the buildings and facilities of the (IHEC).
Regarding communication with the stakeholders; In order to raise voters’ awareness of the importance of electoral participation, the Independent High Electoral Commission held a conference in coordination with the Iraqi Institute to Support the Electoral Process, in the presence of a number of officials, members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, and representatives of a number of civil society organizations specialized in electoral affairs, and organizations for people with disabilities. Member of the Board of Commissioners. As Dr. Ahlam Al-Jabri, discussed the Commission’s preparations and what has been accomplished in terms of the stages of the schedule for the upcoming Governorates Councils’ elections, praising the active role of local organizations in imparting integrity and transparency to the 2023 provincial elections.
within the framework of the national initiative to preserve environment, the team of energy (ISO) at (IHEC), headed by the Secretary-General of the Board of Commissioners, Mr. (Ali Faisal Daham), held its periodic meeting; to follow up on the implementation of the plans set to support the national initiative to rationalize energy and reduce harmful emissions, as directed by the General Secretariat of the Cabinet.
In terms of field follow-up, the assistant of Administrative and Financial Affairs, Mr. Ali Saleh Jaafar, inspected the Center for Maintenance and Rehabilitation of the Electoral Bodies; to find out the required needs and work to rehabilitate the halls and maintain the electoral devices, and to put in place the necessary security fortifications in preparation for the upcoming local elections.
With the completion of the voter register update phase, which started on the 9th of last July until the 20th of August 2023, the efforts of the registration center employees and mobile teams resulted in the registration and updating of (1,031,605.) voters’ data. While this work will continue in the governorate electoral offices ((GEOs) in the Kurdistan region – Iraq until the next 9th of September, as the number of voters who updated their biometric data in the region, were (180,518) voters until the 26th of August.