New date for provincial elections in Iraq

The Independent High Electoral Commission has set a new schedule for holding provincial council elections, revealing plans to conduct them during 2027, amidst wide-ranging organizational and financial preparations. This came during the Parliamentary Finance Committee meeting, chaired by Adi Awad with the presence of its members, which hosted the members of the Board of Commissioners of the Electoral Commission. The discussions focused on shared files, financial and technical requirements, and reviewing the allocated budget within the federal general budget law. The committee chairman opened the meeting by welcoming the visiting delegation, emphasizing the necessity of providing full support to enable the commission to perform its constitutional duties and ensure complete readiness for upcoming electoral milestones. The meeting witnessed a comprehensive review of the remarks and needs presented by the judges who are members of the commission, and discussed ways to execute financial reallocations within the available budget to meet operational requirements. The talks also touched upon amending the commission's law, mechanisms for adopting the unified national card for voting, and finding fundamental solutions to increase the number of polling stations and technical devices to accommodate the growing number of new voters from targeted age groups. In the same context, commission representatives briefed the committee on ongoing preparations to issue voter cards, explaining the technical differences between the unified card and the biometric card and their official adoption in voting.