Iraq kicks off parliamentary elections

BAGHDAD - Iraqis began to vote in parliamentary elections on Tuesday morning for a new 329-member Council of Representatives.

Up to 8,703 polling centers will be open in the Middle Eastern country from 7:00 am local time (0400 GMT) to 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) for more than 20 million registered voters to cast their ballots, according to data from the Independent High Electoral Commission.

The voting is underway amid a mandatory election silence period imposed for security reasons. Iraq's last parliamentary elections in 2021 sparked violent clashes in the capital Baghdad and resulted in nearly a year of political deadlock before a government was formed.

Tuesday's polling marks the sixth parliamentary election held in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion and is considered a test of the country's fragile stability.

In a televised address to the nation on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani urged Iraqis to take part in the vote, calling it the most important election since 2003, saying it would "determine the future of Iraq for the next 20 years".