Today, October 20, 2024, the general voting process for the Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections began in the provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Halabja. A total of 1,266 polling centers were opened, distributed as follows: 498 centers in Erbil, 477 in Sulaymaniyah, 264 in Duhok, and 27 in Halabja.

There are 6,318 polling stations, and voters are distributed across these centers and stations, for a total of 2,683,618.

The polling centers opened at 7:00 a.m. according to the procedures set by the Independent High Electoral Commission, and observers filled out the specific forms for the opening process.

This report covers responses from 813 observers from the region, with the answers to the following questions as follows:

• Were there any political entity advertisements or candidate number cards distributed inside or within 100 meters around the polling center?

  • 87 cases said yes (11%) and 726 cases said no (89%).

• Were security forces present inside the polling center?

  • 266 cases said no (33%) and 547 cases said yes (67%).

• Were there any attempts to prevent voters from accessing the polling center?

  • 0 cases said yes, and 100% said no.

• Were any observers, candidate representatives, or political entity agents removed from the polling station?

  • 11 cases said yes (1%) and 802 cases said no (99%).

• Did the polling station open on time at 7:00 a.m.?

  • 747 cases said yes (92%) and 66 cases said no (8%).

It is worth mentioning that EIN Network for Election Monitoring and Democracy is observing the elections in the Kurdistan Region with more than 200 observers distributed across polling centers and stations.  This effort is within the framework of the Alliance of National Networks and Organizations to Monitor the Kurdistan Regional Parliament Elections, which employs more than 1,600 observers, and within the "Democracy and Transparency: Empowering Civic Engagement and Media Freedom" project, in partnership with the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and supported by the European Union.

It is also notable that the monitoring process is long-term, starting from the stage of enacting the election law and continuing until the general voting day on October 20th. This includes monitoring the counting, sorting, auditing, and the final announcement of election results.