Polls close in Iraq's Kurdish region
Around 3.8 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections in northern Kurdish region. The vote was initially scheduled for 2017 but postponed due to political and economic crises in the region.
A Kurdish woman casts her vote at a polling station, during parliamentary elections in the semi-autonomous region in Duhok, Iraq, September 30, 2018
Iraqi Kurds voted on Sunday for a new parliament in their autonomous region, which is mired in an economic crisis a year after an independence referendum that infuriated Baghdad.
The High Election Commission in the Kurdish region has established some 5,933 voting stations in the cities of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk and Halabja for the polls.
TRT World's Abubakr al Shamahi has more from Erbil, Iraq.
Around 3.8 million voters were eligible to cast ballot in the vote to elect 111 members of parliament. About 29 parties and coalitions are vying for seats.
Electronic vote counting, which has caused uproar during Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary election, will not be used in the Kurdish polls. Votes, instead, will be counted manually.
Economic challenges
The city of Erbil was once called the Dubai of Iraq. Developers would build vast projects and sell them.
But that was before the economy collapsed.
The fight against Daesh and disputes with the Iraqi central government have led to a reduction in the funds coming in for the Kurdish Regional Government while after last year's independence referendum, the region lost control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
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