Among the voters were hospital patients, the elderly, and people with disabilities, who were offered assistance at the ballot boxes to cast their votes.
Zubaida Taman Ahmed, a 70-year-old woman from Erbil province’s Soran city, returned from Iran earlier this month to vote.
Ahmed was admitted to a hospital in Tehran for having both legs paralyzed.
“I’m a volunteering woman. We have made sacrifices for the Peshmerga [forces]. I have a president, President [Masoud] Barzani. Our martyrs have shed blood, and I dedicate my vote to their blood,” Ahmed told Rudaw on a stretcher en route to a polling station.
Abdulsalam, a diabetes patient, was assisted out of the hospital on a gurney to exercise his right at the nearest polling station in Erbil.
But the dreams of the 43-year-old man, who has lost both legs due to his illness, were cut short as the voting machine failed to read his fingerprint.
Awat Azad, a 32-year-old woman with a disability in Soran, woke up as early as 4:00 am to win in a challenge against the Kurdistan Region President, Nechirvan Barzani.
The president had challenged young voters to cast their ballot before him.
Azad cast her vote right after the polls were open at 7:00 am local time, beating the president in the challenge.
“Congratulations on our challenge and our victory,” Azad said in the phone call with President Barzani.
Muhammad Ali Abdullah, an elderly person from Halabja province, was just out of the hospital with a patch on his right eye following surgery.
“It’s an obligatory task,” Abdullah replied when asked why he went to cast his vote.
“We are on the same boat; we will all perish if the boat sinks.” Said Wasta Hamad, another elderly voter in Sulaimani.
An estimated 2.9 million voters are registered to elect 100 lawmakers for the Kurdistan Region parliament.
A total of 1,191 candidates are contesting the 100-seat legislature, downsized from 111 seats following a major Iraqi federal court ruling in February.
The polls opened at 7:00 am and closed at 6:00 pm on Sunday.
Rekar Aziz and Hejar Ergoshi in Erbil, Andam Jabar in Soran, Sazgar Salah in Halabja contributed to this article.
