IHEC rules out supplementary elections

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Sunday ruled out the possibility of holding supplementary provincial election, adding that advocates of this election do not have any legal basis for it. “Holding supplementary elections on the pretext that the percentage of people who were not allowed to vote in some areas was high is unacceptable…,” the head of the commission, Faraj al-Haidari, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “There are no legal, technical or humanitarian grounds for holding supplementary elections…,” he noted. Voters yesterday (Jan. 31) headed to polling stations in Baghdad and 13 other Iraqi provinces to elect their representatives in the country’s provincial councils amidst tight security measures. Over 15 million voters participated in the election, according to the IHEC. Security personnel, prisoners sentenced to less than five years and hospital-bound cast early ballots in the special voting, held on Wednesday (Jan. 28). Participation in the local council elections all over Iraq reached 51 percent, the IHEC said. SS (P) 1