Weekly Statement
- The Board of Commissioners grants regular establishment licenses for parties, instead of conditional ones; To fulfil the requirements of formal and substantive conditions for establishment.
- The Chairman and members of the Board of Commissioners (BoC), hosted by the Legal Committee of the Iraqi House of Representatives; To discuss electoral preparations.
- The chief executive officer (CEO) follows up the readiness of GEOs for polling day.
- (1,977,369) biometric cards were distributed to voters in (RCs).
- The (IHEC) continues accreditation of observers, media reporters, and political party agents.
- The (IHEC) seeks to educate voters on the importance of casting their votes, in cooperation with official institutions and departments.
Weekly Statement
The Board of Commissioners of the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq (IHEC) held its regular session on 20th of this November; to ratify the decision issued by the Department of (the Affairs of political Parties and Organizations) including granting parties regular establishment licenses instead of conditioned ones as they fulfil the requirements of the formal and substantive conditions for establishment based on Parties’ Law No. (36) of 2015, as the total number of registered parties reached (295) parties, including (26) parties that have Conditioned leaves, in addition to following up on the work of the Candidates Affairs Division in organizing schedules related to candidates. In a special meeting held by the Board of Commissioners in which they discussed a draft of (complaints and appeals’ procedure of voting phase and audit centers for the 2023 governorates councils’ elections), and reports of the Central Monitoring Committee for following up on electoral violations.
The Legal Committee of the Iraqi House of Representatives hosted the Chairman of the (BoC) in the Independent High Electoral Commission; to determine the Commission’s preparations for holding the elections and to overcome the obstacles facing its work, besides the operational timetable for holding the elections for both, the Governorates councils, and the Kurdistan Regional Parliament. Also, they discuss the cost of printing ballot papers, the contract of installing surveillance cameras inside the electoral centers, as well as discussing the Commission’s notes regarding the proposed law on the first amendment to the law of the Independent High Electoral Commission No. (31) of 2019.
Following the meeting held with the managers of the (GEOs), governorate electoral offices in Sulaymaniyah, the (CEO) Judge Abbas Al-Fatlawi, his assistant for technical affairs Mr. Muhannad Fadel Abbas, the director of the Operations and Information Technology Department, and members of the Operations Committee, had met online with the directors of all the (GEOs; To follow up on the rates of implementation of recommendations related to preparing polling stations, auditing, and warehouses and the extent of their readiness and security.
About (1,977,369) biometric voters’ cards were distributed to (906) centers registration centers of the non-regional governorates’ electoral offices throughout the week, in addition to send text messages to voters to receive their biometric cards, as well as running mobile teams that grasp voters wherever they are; In order to guarantee their right to cast their votes.
To ensure the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, IHEC continues registering and accrediting international observers and media professionals in the national office, local media professionals, and political party agents in the fifteen (GEOs); To give them their own identification identities. the IHEC also held an educational conference for representatives of political parties and civil society organizations; about the voting mechanism and procedures and ways to succeed in the governorate council elections scheduled to be held on December 18, 2023.
Due to the importance of electoral awareness, IHEC is communicating with security institutions, universities, and a number of ministries in holding educational seminars and workshops through operations and information technology department, media and public outreach, and the relevant divisions in the (GEOs); which explain voting procedures, the distribution of biometric voter cards, and the importance of electoral participation. In addition to an expanded symposium in the Republic Presidential Bureau under the auspices of its chairman. Also, a panel discussion in Ziggurat Palace of the Prime Minister’s Office and in the presence of the Prime Minister’s advisors and officials of his office and departments.
In the presence of the team leader of Women Enabled, member of (BoC), Dr. Ahlam Al-Jabri, and the Secretary-General of the (BoC) Mr. Ali Faisal Daham, a workshop concerning training the women-candidates was held in cooperation with the National Security Advisory/ center of Excellence, with the presence of the United Nations Electoral Assistance Team (UNAMI) for three consecutive days.