More than 250,000 security forces are taking extraordinary measures across the country to provide security during the parliamentary elections.

800 UN observers have come to the country to monitor the elections, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said.

The elections decide the 329 members of the Council of Representatives who will, in turn, elect the Iraqi President and Prime Minister.

The electoral system was changed following the last parliamentary elections amid the 2019–2021 Iraqi protests. Previously conducted under proportional representation calculated using the Webster/Sainte-Laguë method with the governorates as constituencies, the 2021 elections will be conducted under single non-transferable vote in 83 multi-member constituencies.

One-quarter of total seats are reserved for women in the constituencies, while nine are reserved for minorities (5 for Christians and 1 each for Yazidis, Shabaks, Sabian Mandaeans, and Feyli Kurds). (ILKHA)