ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq -  Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced Saturday that the country’s parliamentary elections will be held as scheduled on November 11, with all technical, logistical, and administrative preparations completed.

"The elections will be held on their specified date on November 11," Imad Jamil, the head of the IHEC's media team, told The New Region on Saturday, adding that "the commission has completed all technical, logistical, administrative, and human resource preparations." 

A major security plan is in place for the vote, with no curfew imposed to ease voter movement, and about 120,000 surveillance cameras will be installed at polling stations to monitor the process, Jamil said. 

Regarding biometric cards for voting, he indicated that so far, one million two hundred thousand cards have been distributed, with around three thousand five hundred cards remaining. 

The card distribution process will continue until election day, he said. Nearly 30 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, including more than one million new voters who have reached the age criteria.

On Friday, Iraq’s National Coalition of Election Monitoring Networks and Organizations issued a detailed preliminary report documenting widespread violations during the parliamentary campaign period, warning that political competition has increasingly turned violent, corrupt, and polarizing.

The assassination of electoral candidate Safaa al-Mashhadani in Baghdad on Wednesday offered a reminder of the risks faced by politicians, with sectarian tensions often manifesting in political violence ahead of the casting of ballots. 

Campaigning for the federal parliament began on October 10, with over 7,750 competing for the 329 seats allocated across the provinces under a proportional representation system.

Iraq’s last parliamentary elections in October 2021 saw a record low turnout amid widespread public frustration.