ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Sunday confirmed that the results of the country’s early polling will not be published on the same day, citing concerns that the results would influence the general elections scheduled for Tuesday.

Over 800 early polling centers opened across Iraq on Sunday morning, two days before the country’s general elections, with over 1.3 million security personnel eligible to cast their ballots. More than 26,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) will also be able to vote in the early polling.

“Today, we will not publish the [early] elections results, and will only publish voter turnout rate. This is in order not to let it cast influence on the general elections,” the spokesperson told The New Region.

Ghalai further noted that, so far, no violations have been recorded during the process.

More than 7,750 candidates are competing for 329 parliamentary seats under a proportional representation system. According to data revealed by Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), a total of 1,313,859 individuals across seven Iraqi and Kurdish security institutions can participate in Sunday’s early voting.

The country’s general vote will be held two days later on Tuesday, where around 20 million registered voters can cast a ballot.