Baghdad The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) confirmed that it has taken deterrent precautionary measures to ensure the votes of voters in the general poll scheduled for the tenth of next month.

The official spokesperson for the commission, Jumana Al-Ghalay, stated, in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA), that “the commission has taken several precautionary measures, including that the voter who has a short-term card, on the day of polling, must fingerprint all ten fingers in the verification device, vote, and then withdraw the card from him, provided that he receives a written receipt, as well as disabling this card after the end of voting,” noting that there are five million temporary short-term cards, which voters can participate in on the general polling day.

She added, “The new biometric cards and short-term cards will all be suspended for 72 hours after the voter has finished voting,” noting that “the new biometric card includes matching three-digit fingerprints, including the voter’s fingerprint included in the card itself and included in the verification device, as well as his live fingerprint in the Public Voting Day, then this card will disable after the 72-hour voting process is over.”

She added, “The precautionary measures, according to the law, include that whoever deliberately votes in the name of another person or his name is repeated on the polling day will be referred to the judiciary with a fine of between 250 thousand to one million dinars and imprisonment for a period of no less than six months.”

Al-Ghalay confirmed, “The voter’s attendance at a particular station will not find his name in another polling station, as the Korean company Nero, with the German Examining Company, allocated the devices to the voters of each station exclusively, with 450 voters in each station, after the names of voters previously were present in all stations. Currently, only the voters of the station are entitled to vote, and their names are not found in any other station.”

On the voting mechanism for citizens with chronic diseases, the elderly, the infirm and the blind, Al-Ghalay explained that “the Commission has precautionary measures to guarantee their votes, using the biometric card. Accordingly, the commission will know whose name is repeated on the polling day and take the necessary legal measures by referring all violators, not just the voter, to the judiciary to take legal measures against them.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency