Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) conducts a country-wide ballot lottery

On 7 July 2021, in its preparation for the October 2021 Council of Representative (CoR) Elections, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) conducted a country-wide ballot lottery to determine the order of the candidates on the ballots of 83 constituencies in 19 IHEC Governorate Electoral Offices (GEOs).  At the same time, the lottery process for all the Iraqi components was held at the IHEC Headquarters.  It was a nation-wide televised live event attended by political parties, candidates, media and other stakeholders.  On 6 July, IHEC approved the final candidate list of 3,243 candidates that would contest the October elections.

To carry out the lottery process, UNAMI Office of Electoral Assistance (OEA) supported IHEC by procuring 46 ballot lottery machines.  IHEC, with the support of the UNAMI OEA Advisors, developed the ballot lottery procedures and held a training for 57 Governorate Electoral Offices staff in Baghdad, on 1 July.  Assistance was also provided in the field of public outreach (with the production of a video) and media guidance.

UNAMI OEA Regional Advisors worked with the IHEC GEOs at the governorate level, by working to instil further confidence in GEOs over the preparations for the lottery.