ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Flights to the Kurdistan Region will continue as usual on the upcoming legislative election day, slated for November 11, as no directive has been issued to halt operations, the director of Erbil International Airport (EIA) confirmed to Rudaw.
“We have yet to receive any instructions to stop flights on election day,” said Ahmed Hoshyar on Tuesday, adding, “We are waiting for the decision of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority regarding any ruling on flights at Erbil International Airport for that day.”
He noted that while some flights have recently been delayed, these disruptions are unrelated to the election and that “airport activity is as usual.”
Similarly, Sirwan Hussein, the spokesperson for the Haji Omaran border crossing - one of the nine official land border points in the Kurdistan Region - told Rudaw that “traffic at the border crossing is normal.” No official decision has been made to close crossings on election day, he added.
“So far, the situation at the crossings is normal and they were open during previous voting days, but they are awaiting a decision for this time,” Hussein elaborated.
Meanwhile, preparations for the election are underway.
Rudaw learned Monday that over 120 pallets containing approximately 3.5 million ballot papers had arrived in the Kurdistan Region, with the majority sent to the eastern province of Sulaimani.
Nabard Omar, head of the Kurdistan Region’s office at the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), said that "election necessities have been sent from Iraq to the Kurdistan Region, the most important of which is the ballot papers, which arrived on Monday night."
According to data obtained by Rudaw, the IHEC has delivered 123 pallets in total, including 3,497,650 ballot papers.
Erbil province received approximately 1,257,650 ballots, while Sulaimani and Halabja were allocated 1,361,600. The northern province of Duhok received 878,400.
The IHEC will safeguard these ballot papers until election day.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are set to hold legislative elections on November 11.
According to IHEC data, the elections will see participation from 31 political alliances, 38 parties, 23 independent candidates, and 56 candidates running for minority quota seats.
In total, 7,768 candidates - including 5,520 men and 2,248 women - are competing for 329 parliamentary seats, nine of which are reserved for minority groups.
More than 39,000 polling stations will be open across 8,703 voting centers for the general vote. An additional 4,501 stations have been designated for special voting, while 97 polling stations will be available for displaced persons living in and around camps in the Kurdistan Region.
Following a recent nationwide update to biometric voter registration, over 21 million Iraqis are now eligible to vote.