Erbil, Kurdistan Region - More than 3.7 million people are eligible to vote in the Kurdistan Region's upcoming elections scheduled for October, with Sulaimani emerging as the province with the highest number of registered voters, according to Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).

IHEC reported that a total of 3,789,360 people are eligible to vote in the elections, with over 2.9 million having completed the biometric registration process. Sulaimani tops the list with over 1.1 million people registered biometrically out of nearly 1.5 million eligible voters. Erbil follows with over 1.3 million eligible voters, while Duhok has more than 926,000 eligible voters.

In late June, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani announced October 20 as the election date, two years after its originally scheduled date. The recent announcement indicates an increase of around 150,000 eligible voters compared to the 3.6 million reported in July 2023.

Imad Jamil, media head for the IHEC, informed Rudaw that the commission will establish 23 polling stations across the central and southern provinces of the country to facilitate the Kurdistan Region's parliamentary elections.

The election process has faced significant challenges, including interference from Baghdad, which has exacerbated tensions between the Kurdistan Region’s political parties. Notably, there have been conflicts between the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).