Iraqi Parliament Calls for Manual Recount of Recent Election Votes

One day after the Prime Minister of Iraq stated that significant violations occurred in last month's parliamentary elections, the parliament voted for a manual recount of the votes. According to Reuters, this move could complicate the sensitive process of forming a new government, increase ambiguity regarding the political situation, and put the government and parliament at odds with the election commission, which is supposed to be independent. By passing an amendment to the election law, the parliament will compel the High Election Commission to conduct a manual recount of the votes. This commission has previously refused to accept this task. Meanwhile, the Iraqi parliament dismissed the leadership of the election commission and is set to appoint nine judges to this position. Two members of the Iraqi parliament told Reuters that the parliament has banned the use of electronic vote counting devices, which were reportedly the 'cause of violations,' in the next elections. A spokesperson for the High Election Commission of Iraq declined to comment, stating that they cannot engage with the media on this matter. The Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, the highest judicial authority in the country, recently announced that the judiciary cannot compel the High Election Commission to conduct a manual recount since the law provides for the use of electronic devices. A spokesperson for the Supreme Judicial Council told Reuters on Wednesday that now that the parliament has changed the law, this issue is no longer relevant. AFP also reported that 173 out of 328 parliamentary members, whose term is soon ending, voted on Wednesday in response to reports and allegations of fraud for approximately 11 million votes to be recounted manually. Despite ongoing negotiations regarding the formation of Iraq's next government, ambiguity and confusion have prevailed in the country since the victory of the political coalition led by Muqtada al-Sadr in last month's parliamentary elections. Since the elections, many old politicians, who were sidelined by the people's demand for change, have protested the results and called for a recount. According to Iraqi security agencies that have tested electronic vote counting devices, it appears that these devices provide varying results, and this technical malfunction could justify multiple claims of fraud.