ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s electoral body on Sunday asserted that most of the appeals submitted regarding the recent parliamentary elections lack proper documentation and reflect the candidates’ inability to accept defeat.

“Most appeals relate to vote differences but were not supported by sufficient documentation,” Imad Jamil, head of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) media team, told the state newspaper, affirming the commission’s willingness to provide the challenging parties “with copies of result tapes to enable them to cross-check.”

The official explained that the rise in the number of appeals “is linked to the absence of a culture of accepting defeat among some candidates, which drives them to submit objections immediately upon the announcement of results,” especially when the vote outcome does not align with prior expectations.

Jumana al-Ghalai, the IHEC’s spokesperson, told The New Region that the body has so far rejected 207 appeals, noting that they were “appeals of parties and candidates, none of which were of the red category.” The red type classification refers to complaints that can have a direct impact on the results of the elections as they relate to proving tampering with ballot boxes.

The IHEC’s judicial body “must respond to all complaints within 10 days, without counting weekends,” Ghalai added, then forward the results to the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court for approval.

The IHEC on Friday revealed processing 528 appeals out of more than 870 submitted challenging the election’s results.

Iraq held its sixth parliamentary elections on November 11, in which nearly 7,750 candidates competed for the Iraqi legislature’s 329 seats.