Iraq begins vote counting after parliamentary elections
Voter turnout exceeds 55% of eligible voters, electoral commission says
Iraqi citizens cast their votes using an electronic card system at Duhok Girls' High School as the country holds parliamentary elections, with around 21 million eligible voters choosing among 7,744 candidates for 329 parliamentary seats in Duhok, Iraq on November 11, 2025.
- 7,743 candidates contested elections to elect members of 329-seat parliament
BAGHDAD/ISTANBUL
Vote counting began in Iraq on Tuesday after polls closed in the country’s parliamentary elections.
In a statement, the Independent High Election Commission said 10,898,327 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s polls, with the voter turnout exceeding 54% of eligible voters.
It said 1,084,289 military and security personnel also cast ballots during a special voting on Sunday, with a turnout of 82.5%, while 20,527 displaced persons voted out of 26,538 registered voters, at a rate of 77%.
In total, 12,003,143 Iraqis voted in Iraq’s parliamentary elections, out of 21,404,291 eligible voters, pushing the overall turnout above 55%, according to the commission.
The results of the elections are scheduled to be announced within 24 hours of the vote, and will be officially confirmed after appeals are examined.
The polls opened at 7 am local time (0400GMT) and closed at 6 pm (1500GMT) without any extension.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that his government had successfully organized the parliamentary polls.
“Once again, our great Iraqi people…have taken a remarkable step forward toward greater stability and progress,” al-Sudani said on the US social media company X.
He described the polls as the consolidation of a “democratic system that embodies (the Iraqi people’s) free constitutional will and their determination to continue building the state and consolidating its institutions.”
With the holding of the polls, “the government has fulfilled one of the most significant commitments outlined in its executive program,” he added.
A total of 7,743 candidates contested the elections, including 2,247 women.
The current parliamentary term began on January 9, 2022, and lasts four years. Under Iraqi law, parliamentary elections must be held at least 45 days before the end of the current legislative term.
Shia parties and blocs hold a majority in the current legislature. Power in Iraq is traditionally divided among the country’s main communities: the presidency goes to the Kurds, the premiership to the Shias, and the speakership of parliament to the Sunnis.
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