Iraq elections 2021: Iraqis await results as voting comes to a close

Al-Fuhud, located on the left bank of the Euphrates river 65 kilometres south of al-Nasiriyah, was dubbed by locals as the most "rebellious city" during the 2019 anti-government protests.

Residents tell MEE's Suadad al-Salhy that many are voting for candidates affiliated with the uprising's Tishreen movement. 

Sajjad al-Yasiri, a 27-year-old teacher, tells Salhy that the streets are empty as many take their afternoon naps, a widespread daily custom in southern Iraq. 

"We dream of achieving change at the country level to change some laws, reduce political and sectarian quotas, and stop foreign interference in Iraq's affairs," said Yasiri. 

"I want the situation in Iraq to change for the better. I have been protesting for two years and my wish is to secure my child's future, and to be proud of being Iraqi when I travel outside the country."

MEE’s Tom Westcott is in Kirkuk, where security is also tight as Iraqi army helicopters carry out low-flying sorties since polling started this morning.

Iraqi security forces have been on high alert countrywide in the run-up to the elections - but with its recent history of unrest, the fiercely contested city of Kirkuk is particularly vulnerable, and security there is a priority.

Roads have been closed to traffic around polling stations in the city, with a range of security forces deployed.

While the elections seem to generate very little enthusiasm across Iraq, as many who supported the October 2019 uprising feel the political system is too corrupt to achieve meaningful change - some Iraqis told Middle East Eye that they still believed voting could make a difference.

Yasser Jabar, 52, lost six close family members in a 2006 explosion that targeted a police station just metres from the very polling centre where he came to vote in Kirkuk.

“Since the explosion, I’ve had nothing from the government. No compensation and no help at all,” he told MEE. 

Sucking on half a lemon - a popular habit locally believed to reduce chances of catching Covid-19 - he nonetheless said that he had taken time off work to vote.

“I believe that my vote can make a change if there really is justice and honesty," he said.

Mohamed Rashat Ahmed, an 82-year-old Turkmen, was upset to see how deserted the Kirkuk polling station was early on Sunday.

“We are all Iraqi and we should not be divided,” he shouted in the empty halls.

Speaking to MEE’s Tom Westcott, he added: “I have a message for Britain and America: Please, get out of our country and leave us in peace. We can do it ourselves. We lived like brothers and sisters before and we can do it again."

The elderly man then turned to kiss an Iraqi flag hanging from a window.

“I love Iraq,” he said passionately, before breaking down in tears.

MEE’s Alex MacDonald is in Baghdad, where security remains tight on election day. 

Armoured vehicles dotted the corners of the city centre streets, which are considerably less congested than usual.

Near Tahrir Square, the epicentre of anti-government protests in October 2019, riot shields and other equipment were laid out on the side of the street in apparent anticipation of unrest.

Mid-morning, an F-16 circled above the city, seemingly a show of national strength by the Iraqi air force.

Iraqis are heading to the polls for the fifth time since 2003, after the US-led invasion ended Saddam Hussein's nearly 25 years of rule. 

Here are the key facts that you need to know about today's vote:

• 167 parties and more than 3,200 candidates are competing for 329 seats in Iraq's parliament 
• A new law designed to help independent candidates led to the election being called several months earlier than planned in response to mass anti-government protests two years ago
• Iraqi elections are often followed by months of protracted negotiations over a president, a prime minister and a cabinet
• The biggest Shia Muslim blocs in the election are those of Muqtada al-Sadr and a separate coalition of Iran-aligned parties with paramilitary wings. Kurds have two main parties that rule the autonomous Kurdistan region, and Sunni Muslims this time have two main blocs. Meanwhile, the Yazidi minority has four dedicated seats in parliament

Staff from Iraq's independent electoral commission (IHEC) may be enforcing electoral processes, but even they are not spared by the disillusionment with politics widespread across the country.

One IHEC staff member working in a Kirkuk election centre said staff were able to vote early today, when the centres first opened.

“I participated, but I voted for no-one,” he told MEE. “None of these candidates will do anything for us, so I refused to vote for any of them.”

His symbolic vote of an unmarked ballot sheet was fed into the scanner secured onto the top of the ballot box, intended to ensure that each vote is both immediately recorded electronically and also preserved physically.

A 24-year-old law graduate with a master's degree, this IHEC staff member - who, like many others, is a volunteer - has only been able to find regular work with an Iraqi telecoms company earning $200 per month, despite being highly educated.

Iraq’s politicians are failing him now, just as they have failed the rest of his family for decades, the young man said.

Calm reigns in the city centre of Nasiriyah, home to the most violent 2019 anti-government protests in southern Iraq, which led to the overthrow of the government of then-prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and the call for early elections.

By 11am, voter turnout at polling stations is still modest, not exceeding 28 percent in the Dhi Qar governorate in southern Iraq, according to observers.

No major technical problems have been reported so far, except for issues with some individual voting machines that were fixed.

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has posted strict rules for entering polling stations: no smoking, no talking on phones, no photography and no guns.

Despite this, some social media users noted that certain political figures were not necessarily strictly adhering to the rules.

A video showing influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr heading to the polls appeared to also show one of his entourage with a pistol stuffed in his trousers:

The streets of of the contested northern city of Kirkuk were deserted on Sunday morning, and not just of people.

The campaign posters that, for weeks, have defined streets across Iraq had mostly vanished.

Locals say scrap metal merchants moved in swiftly on Saturday evening after campaigning officially ended to lay claim to the metal frames.

Some laminated posters lie scrunched on the ground, their metal frames already on the way to being repurposed.