UNAMI congratulates IHEC on starting ballot printing for elections

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) extended its warm congratulations to the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) for starting the ballot printing process for the upcoming parliamentary elections, UNAMI said in a statement on Thursday. “Overall, more than 26 million ballots of 19 different types will be printed and distributed to approximately 50,000 polling stations which will be established by the IHEC to accommodate regular voting, special needs and absentee voting including the police, the military, detainees and hospital workers, as well as out-of-country voting (OCV).,” said the statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Iraq (SRSG) Ad Melkert said, “We praise the Electoral Commission’s efforts to move forward with the operational timeline despite considerable challenges along the way.” He reiterated that UNAMI continues to support the IHEC in its work and is confident that all preparations will be in place and ballots are ready for the election day on March 7, as well as the Special Voting starting three days before that date. He also added, “UNAMI closely monitors the progress of implementing the electoral timeline. The recent lottery conducted by the IHEC for selecting of up to 300,000 polling staff for the upcoming elections demonstrated transparency and integrity in the selection and recruitment process and IHEC’s commendable efforts to keep the public and the media well informed. It is encouraging to see that the nation-wide training process has begun according to plan.” The coming parliamentary elections will be held on March 7. SH (S) 2