Iraqi court orders manual recount of votes from May election

Iraq's Supreme Court on Thursday endorsed a manual recount of all ballots from last month's national elections, but rejected the invalidation of ballots from abroad and from voters displaced by recent conflict.

Authorities have been struggling to address allegations raised by underperforming parties that the May vote was marred by fraud.

The court ruling concerned a law passed by Parliament that mandated a full, manual recount of the vote, and other measures addressing what President Fuad Masum and the national elections commission described as political interference.

A warehouse storing ballots from eastern Baghdad was burned down days after the parliament filed the legislation. No suspects have been named in the apparent arson, and authorities have not given an estimate as to how many ballots were destroyed in the fire.

The Supreme Court said the legislation was broadly constitutional and endorsed the order to replace the Independent Elections Commission with a panel of nine judges to supervise the recount. The commission, deflecting allegations of fraud, had refused to conduct a recount.

Journalist Ash Gallagher speaks to TRT World from Sulaymaniyah in Iraq.

Invalidation of ballots from abroad rejected

But the court rejected the mass invalidation of the expatriate and displaced persons vote, and the armed services vote in the country's Kurdish governorates. Chief Justice Medhat al Mahmoud said the sweeping measure was unjust to voters whose ballots were shown to be legitimate.

Iraqis displaced population, mostly driven from their homes during battles against Daesh and international groups urged authorities to take measures to ensure they could vote. The perception that Sunni-majority northern Iraq was being marginalised by the Shia-dominated government in Bagdad was seen as a key to fueling Daesh's insurgency earlier this decade.

No date has been specified for the recount, and it's not clear whether it would change the outcome of the vote. 

Nationalist cleric Moqtada al Sadr and Iranian-backed militia chief Hadi al Amiri, who won first and second place respectively in the polls, have announced an alliance between their political blocs.

But the formation of a new government is still a long way as parties wait for the results to be formally ratified after the recount.