ALBAWABA - Iraqis head to voting stations on Tuesday to participate in the electoral campaign to pick a new parliament in the sixth general elections since the U.S. invasion.
The voting started at 7:00 a.m. local time and will be shut down at 6:00 p.m., with preliminary results expected to be announced within 24 hours of closing.
AFP reported that many senior politicians were seen casting their ballots at the luxurious al-Rasheed hotel in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
According to sources, over 7,740 candidates, nearly a third of them females, are competing for the 329-seat parliament that is taking place on Nov. 11.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi (C) prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station in Baghdad on November 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections. Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
In Iraq, 21 million people are eligible to vote; however, the voting percentage could not exceed 50 percent. It is worth mentioning that the lowest turnout was registered in 2021 when less than 41 percent cast their ballots.
On Nov. 9, the first phase of Iraq's parliamentary elections, which is designated for security forces, the army, and inmates in prisons and hospitals—a group numbering over 1.3 million— took place.
According to the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), voting in the first phase continued until 6:00 p.m. local time last Sunday, with 1,313,890 eligible voters, confirming that "809 polling centers have been designated for military personnel, with 4,501 polling stations."
