ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Polling stations across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region opened for the country’s sixth post-2003 parliamentary elections, with over 20 million people eligible to cast their ballots.

Over 7,000 polling stations throughout the country opened at 7:00 am local time and are set to remain accessible to the public until the end of voting at 6:00 pm.

A total of 7,743 candidates, comprised of 5,496 males and 2,247 females, are running for the legislature’s 329 seats.

The elections mark Iraq’s first parliamentary vote since 2021, which had a record low turnout at 43 percent.

More than 1.3 million members of the security institutions and over 26,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were eligible for early polling, which was held on Sunday. The early elections had a voter turnout of 82 percent.

More than 185,000 security personnel have been assigned to secure the polling stations across Iraq for the parliamentary elections.