Iraq’s election faces a growing threat as authorities arrest dozens over illegal voting card sales.
The matter of vote buying in Iraq has become widespread. Officially, votes and voting cards are being bought and sold, especially in the provinces of Baghdad and Mosul, where the number of parliamentary seats is high.
On November 11, 2025, Iraq will hold elections for the Council of Representatives, yet some groups and individuals have already begun purchasing votes — a process that is illegal and unethical. Warnings have been issued to raise awareness about how votes are being traded like goods, even though such acts are punishable by law.
Political reactions have emerged across Iraq. Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Hikma Movement, said “Political money is a threat to election integrity and turns the process into a marketplace.”
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of Iraq’s major parties, strongly rejected the practice.
Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the Dawa Party, said those involved in buying votes should be banned from the elections, and the commission should take strict legal measures.
Meanwhile, Muqtada al-Sadr warned that “buying voting cards is a dangerous act.”
Haider al-Abadi, head of the Nasr Coalition, also confirmed that there are reports of vote buying and urged political parties “not to resort to such practices.”
Between the 2020 and 2023 elections, numerous cases of vote buying were officially recorded by the election commission, and several candidates were referred to court. Political parties have called on the government to intervene and stop this illegal activity.
Iraq’s National Security Agency announced the arrest of 46 individuals accused of trading voting cards and confiscated more than 1,800 cards.
In an official statement, the agency said the arrests occurred through multiple operations in Baghdad, Anbar, and Nineveh provinces. The detainees and seized materials were referred to the judiciary for legal action.
The next parliamentary elections will be held on November 11, 2025. The Iraqi parliament has 329 seats, including 320 general and 9 quota seats. Special voting will take place one day earlier.
Hadi Salami, a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, said: “This issue is very serious. We see and hear about the buying and selling of votes and voting cards in many places. It’s a major threat and must be stopped.”
Salami added: “Cards are being bought and sold in various ways. According to reports, in Baghdad, the price has reached 500,000 dinars per card.”
He urged security forces and intelligence units to investigate quickly and cut off these networks.
On her part, Jumana Ghalay, spokesperson for Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission, stated: “If any evidence is provided to us, we will investigate and take strict action. However, we have no verified cases yet, as no one can vote on behalf of another person.”
She explained that during election day, special biometric verification measures will prevent misuse: “Our system compares all ten fingerprints of the voter with their registered biometric data to ensure identity accuracy.”
The Kurdish Globe