“Over 480 people have been registered as observers for the sixth Kurdistan parliamentary elections, of which 103 are Americans,” Hogr Chato, head of the Shams Network for Monitoring Elections, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Countries such as Russia, Turkey, Germany, and the United Kingdom have also requested to observe the elections, according to Chato: “Canada and France are expected to follow suit and also send their observers for the process.”
The Kurdistan Region’s citizens will head to the polls on October 20 to vote in the long-awaited parliamentary elections, more than two years since they were initially scheduled to take place.
The electoral process has faced numerous challenges, with interference from Baghdad exacerbating tensions between the Kurdistan Region’s political parties, particularly the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
A total of 1,191 candidates are vying for the 100-seat Kurdistan parliament, according to the Iraqi High Electoral Commission (IHEC). That number includes 823 men, 368 women, and 38 candidates from minority communities.
There will be 1,400 polling stations, including locations in the disputed areas and most Iraqi provinces, for eligible voters.
Early voting for security forces and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is scheduled for October 18, while the general vote will take place on October 20. An estimated 215,000 people are eligible to participate in the early voting.
