A man has his fingerprint scanned before casting his vote at a polling station in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 11, 2025. Iraqis began to vote in parliamentary elections on Tuesday morning for a new 329-member Council of Representatives. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
BAGHDAD, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- 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 open in the Middle Eastern country from 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) to 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) for more than 20 million registered voters to cast their ballots, according to data from the Independent High Electoral Commission.
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.
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."
Al-Sudani cast his ballot at a polling center in the Karrada district of central Baghdad. He was notably accompanied by his elderly mother in a wheelchair, underscoring the significance of the elections for all citizens.
"These elections, which are held on their constitutional date, affirm the principle of the peaceful transition of power under the new political system in Iraq," al-Sudani told reporters after voting.
Tuesday's polling marks the sixth parliamentary election held in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and is considered a test of the country's fragile stability. ■
A member of Iraqi security forces checks a voter's identity information at a polling center in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 11, 2025. Iraqis began to vote in parliamentary elections on Tuesday morning for a new 329-member Council of Representatives. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
A man casts his vote at a polling center in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 11, 2025. Iraqis began to vote in parliamentary elections on Tuesday morning for a new 329-member Council of Representatives. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
A staff member assists voters to put their ballots into a ballot box at a polling center in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 11, 2025. Iraqis began to vote in parliamentary elections on Tuesday morning for a new 329-member Council of Representatives. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
