Kurd region won’t use electronic vote machines in polls

By Idris Okuducu

ERBIL, Iraq

The official electoral commission of northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday said it would not use electronic voting machines in KRG polls slated for September.

“Ballots will be counted manually,” commission spokesman Shiwan Zrar said, adding that most commission members had welcomed the decision.

Iraq used electronic voting machines -- for the very first time -- in parliamentary polls held on May 12.

Use of the machines, however, led to allegations of voter fraud, especially in the cities of Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk.