SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on Iraq to improve access to polling places for people with disabilities, as the country is to hold an early election next week.
The rights organization said many people with disabilities were effectively denied their right to vote due to “discriminatory” legislation and inaccessible polling places.
The HRW further said despite efforts made by the Iraqi electoral commission to facilitate voting for the disabled people, it did not address human rights recommendations.
“It said it could not hire people with disabilities to work at polling places, claiming the tasks involved are too ‘physically demanding’,” senior researcher at the HRW Belkis Wille said.
Wille added that the commission had yet to announce which polling place were physically accessible, which is “key to encouraging some people with disabilities make the effort to reach them”.
“While more is needed, the positive commitments of IHEC in these elections represent a significant advance and should pave the way towards ensuring that the next time Iraqis head to the polls, every person with a disability who wants to vote can do so.”
On Sept. 16, HRW said in a report that people with disabilities were facing “significant obstacles” to participating in the Iraqi parliamentary elections.
Iraqi voters are to elect a new parliament next Sunday in the fifth such vote since a U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A total of 329 seats are up for grabs in the election, which was moved forward from 2022 as a concession to youth-led pro-democracy protests that erupted in late 2019.
There are fears voter turnout could drop below the 44.5 percent figure registered in 2018.
More than 25 million citizens are eligible to vote. They are supposed to present a biometric card for what was conceived as a fully electronic voting process.
However, some voters have not received the cards and authorities say provisions have been made to ensure they are not excluded.
More than 3,240 candidates are in the running, including 950 women.
One quarter of seats are reserved for female candidates, and nine for minorities including Christians and Yazidis.
A new single-member constituency system is supposed to boost independents and reduce traditional political blocs, largely centered on religious, ethnic and clan affiliations.
Two days before polling day, voting will be organized for security forces, displaced citizens and prisoners. This year nationals living abroad will not be voting.
The HRW’s senior researcher said the Iraqi electoral commission had said it would not be able to consider any forms of early or alternative voting for people with disabilities or print Braille ballots.
Earlier, U.N. Envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said people must “feel free” to exercise their democratic and electoral rights.
“Democracy is always a work in progress. It can be messy. It can be tedious. But if people feel included, if they feel they can slowly but surely help shape their own futures, then the compromises and investments are worth it,” she added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir said nearly 900 observers would monitor the elections.
