More than 77,000 start voting in Ninewa

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: More than 77,000 citizens started on Wednesday morning voting in the special elections in Ninewa province, said a media source from the Independent High Electoral Commission’s office (IHEC). “A total of 77800 voters started since 7:00am on Wednesday (Jan. 28) the special voting in 49 electoral centers in Ninewa,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. The special voting day allows Iraqi security forces, detainees and hospital patients to cast ballots in the provincial elections. The polls will be held in 14 of 18 provinces. A total of 614998 people are expected to vote in the special election Wednesday, Iraqi election officials said. On Saturday, millions of people are expected to go to the polls, with 14,000 candidates competing for 440 provincial council seats. As they will on Saturday, polls opened at 7 a.m. Wednesday and were to close at 5 p.m. The provincial vote is viewed as a key vote for the country, because Iraqis have not voted since 2005. Mosul, the capital of Ninewa, is 405km north of Baghdad. SH (S) 1