Vote count underway in Iraq after record low election turnout

Preliminary turnout for the fifth election since the 2003 US invasion was at 41 percent.

Vote counting is under way in Iraq, a day after a record low turnout in a parliamentary election that reflects what many Iraqis said was a loss of faith in the country’s democratic process and political class.

Turnout in Iraq’s election fell amid widespread frustration with the country’s political elite with 41 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots, Iraq’s electoral commission said on Monday, in what was the fifth election since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled longtime ruler Saddam Hussein.

A previous low of 44.5 percent was recorded in 2018.