Iraq cancels parliament election results at more than 1000 stations

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s High Elections Commission announced on Wednesday it was cancelling voting results in the recent parliament elections from more than 1000 polling stations, adding it would hold violators accountable.

It said its teams scrutinized 102 stations at 10 provinces where vote manipulation was reported by political parties, adding that violations were verified.

The commission added it voluntarily scrutinized 2000 more stations, out of which 852 proved to have witnessed breaches, hence cancellation of results.

It clarified that 67 stations for expatriate voters also had their results cancelled due to violations, including in the United States, Germany, the U.K., Sweden, Jordan and Turkey.

According to the commission, the measures put the total of stations where results had been cancelled at 1021. It said it continues to receive challenges to results and “would not hesitate in holding violators accountable”.

Last week, the Iraqi cabinet said it formed a panel to investigate alleged forgery in the elections that were held on 12th of this month. Last Monday, the parliament urged concerned bodies to take necessary measyres to address the violations, including recount and cancellation of results if required.

According to official result, Prime Minister Haider Abadi’s al-Nasr list came third. First came Saeroon list, sponsored by Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, a populist seeking to break away from Iranian influence and scathingly opposed to foreign military presence in Iraq. Second came al-Fatah, an alliance of former leaders of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, the Shia-led troops that backed government forces campaign, under Abadi, to drive out Islamic State militants since 2014.