ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has surpassed one million votes in Iraq’s parliamentary elections, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced Tuesday night, with the milestone marking a first for any Kurdish party in Iraq’s history.

“The votes of the Kurdistan Democratic Party exceeded one million and will be even more in the final result,” the prime minister wrote in a statement.

The premier congratulated President Masoud Barzani, as well as Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, the latter of whom announced the million-vote goal during campaigning.

“I congratulate all the people of Kurdistan. Congratulations to the democratic process and all Iraqis on this great victory,” Prime Minister Barzani wrote.

According to The New Region’s tally of the votes of Kurdish parties in Iraq’s parliamentary votes, held on Tuesday, the KDP scored a record-breaking 1,004,875 votes.

Following the KDP's lead is the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in second place at 492,719 votes, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) at 160,453, and the Stance Movement at 150,792.

The New Generation Movement (NGM) recorded 130,491 votes, meanwhile the Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) and the People’s Front party scored 47,173 and 17,653 respectively.

The tally considered votes across provinces under the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) jurisdiction, as well as Kirkuk and Nineveh.

The milestone is a significant markup compared to the KDP’s 781,000 votes in Iraq’s previous parliamentary elections held in 2021.

Polling stations opened at 7:00 am across Iraq and closed at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, with the Iraqi electoral body scheduled to announce the results within 24 hours following the closure of ballots.

20 million people were eligible to cast a ballot in over 7,000 polling stations, with a total of 7,743 candidates, comprised of 5,496 males and 2,247 females, running for the legislature’s 329 seats.