Voters bringing phones into ballot booths raises violation concerns

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Election monitors at Kurdistan Region polling stations on Friday reported voters bringing phones into the ballot booths, a violation of election regulations that raises concerns over potential voter coercion.

Security forces across the Kurdistan Region on Friday headed to the polling stations to cast their ballots during the early voting period two days ahead of the general vote for parliamentary elections.

“Phones are being brought into the voting station,” Omed Mohammed, a polling station monitor in Sulaimani province, told Rudaw. He could not confirm if devices were used because monitors are not allowed to watch voters behind voting booths to maintain privacy.

According to guidelines issued by Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), voters are not allowed to bring phones inside the polling stations. Election observers representing various organizations are also at the polling stations.

At the same location in Sulaimani, another monitor said they have not seen phones being brought inside and were unsure if it was prohibited, but if they are seen, they would file complaints.

"We were told that bringing phones in is completely forbidden; now they have all brought them inside," said Hawkat Latif Ahmed, a monitor from the New Generation Movement (NGM), a party running in the election.

Representatives from various political parties are monitoring the stations.

Sarbast Amedi is the head of JAF Network for Election and Democracy Monitoring, an election monitor in Duhok province

"Voters must not bring phones inside, so that they are not pressured to vote for a particular party,” he said, adding they have observed violations.

The election is being observed by nearly 2,000 members of international missions and civil organizations; however, Amedi said he has not seen any international representatives at his polling center.

According to the head of IHEC media team Imad Jamil, the election observers include: 25 from the United Nations, three European Union, 47 from civil society organizations (CSO), and 1,604 observers from organizations.

Halsho Abdulfatah, an election observer coordinator for a CSO in Duhok, told Rudaw that they received reports about phones, reaffirming that taking pictures of ballots is forbidden.

“Taking phones is not a responsibility of IHEC staff. The security committee is tasked with this duty,” he said.

On Sunday, the IHEC announced it was installing 22,283 cameras across polling centers: four cameras per polling center - two per polling station rooms within the centers - and four backup cameras.

"The cameras are set up in a way that it does not show inside the voting booth," Abdulfatah said, noting that this arrangement complies with IHEC instructions to protect voters' privacy.

In previous elections, there were reports of voters taking photos of their completed ballots as potential proof of their support.

Judge Omar Ahmed, the chief of IHEC, said they have told the polling centers that phones are prohibited while voting.

"We have communicated that taking phones inside is forbidden all over the Kurdistan Region," Ahmed told journalists in Erbil.

In response to an alleged case in Halabja, Ahmed said the news was not true.

"We have informed you that the news is not true, and taking phones in is prohibited,” he said. “It was just one of the monitors, I believe, who took his phone inside and he was prevented.”

Around 215,960 members of the security forces are eligible to vote early on Friday. The polls opened at 7 am and will close at 6 pm.


Nzar Jaza in Sulaimani and Haidar Doski in Duhok contributed to this report.