ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Senior figures within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are demanding their members collect tens of voting cards ahead of the upcoming elections, threatening dismissal otherwise, members of the units told The New Region.

Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections on November 11, with over 29 million people eligible to vote.

A PMF member in Mosul who requested anonymity told The New Region that each member of his brigade has been requested to bring at least 15 electoral cards, noting that the number varies from one brigade to another.

“The failure to enact the PMF law has made it very easy to dismiss a member who refuses to bring these cards on simple grounds, such as absence or failure to carry out orders,” he added.

The Iraqi parliament is currently studying a bill which includes the Service and Retirement Law for the PMF and aims to organize the Popular Mobilization Commission similarly to other state security and military agencies.

“The PMF member is responsible for bringing the cards, even if he is forced to purchase them at the electoral card market, which is active before each election,” said the member, noting that dismissing the PMF fighters is not subject to the review of a judge or a specialized committee.

Another member of the forces in Nineveh said that their brigade has demanded each member bring at least 50 cards from their families, even if they had to purchase them.

“The fate of anyone who declines to bring these cards is dismissal,” he decried.

The New Region has learned that the price of a single voting card ranges between 100,000 and 250,000 dinars, and the price increases as the elections approach, as cards become scarce.

A Nineveh court in April announced the arrest of a suspect in the trafficking of 1,147 voting cards in the province.

In a meeting with head of the Integrity Commission Mohammed Ali al-Lami on Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani emphasized the need for enhancing cooperation and coordination between relevant authorities to ensure the transparency and integrity of the upcoming electoral process.

Sudani “directed that efforts be intensified and that no political party be allowed to exploit state resources in electoral competition,” according to a statement from his office.

Over eight million eligible voters have yet to complete their biometric registration requirements, according to the Iraqi electoral body.