Today's Edition
Hoda Jassim (Baghdad)
On Wednesday, the Supreme Committee for Securing the Provincial Council Elections in Iraq formed a special committee for cybersecurity with seven representatives. The aim of the committee is to secure the holding of the elections scheduled for December 18.
The Digital Media Centre confirmed that the Supreme Committee formed a special committee for cybersecurity. The seven representatives have expertise in technical equipment, the Supreme Committee noted, adding that the committee’s mission is to examine the equipment for the electoral process. This step is a part of the framework of preparations for the elections, which aims to ensure the elections’ safety and integrity, as cybersecurity is an essential part of this process.
The formation of the cybersecurity committee comes as part of efforts to protect the election process from any cyber interference or manipulation attempts. The committee is tasked with ensuring the safety and security of the electoral process equipment and taking the necessary measures to confront any cyber threats that may arise during the election process.
Imad Jamil, head of the media team for the Election Commission, said: “All of the Commission’s devices have been secured, whether counting, sorting, or verification devices,” pointing out that the transmission devices have been examined and prepared for use in the upcoming election operations.
He stressed that the Commission is continuously verifying the voter register at the station level, adding that it needs 35,553 electronic records.
Deputy Commander of Joint Operations and Chairman of the Supreme Security Committee for Securing the Provincial Council Elections, Lieutenant General Qais Al-Muhammadawi, confirmed that the security units are ready to protect the upcoming electoral process.
He added that the security committee had formed subcommittees in each governorate headed by the governor’s operations commander, with an operations command, a representative of the governorate, and the director of the Independent High Electoral Commission office.
In the governorates where the police receive the security file, Al-Muhammadawi explained that the subcommittee is headed by the police chief, and these subcommittees are responsible for implementing security plans on the ground.
Supreme Judicial Council issued a directive to the investigative courts regarding electoral propaganda. A statement by the council said that the Supreme Judicial Council directed the investigative courts, in coordination with the competent security authorities, to arrest those who tear up pictures and electoral propaganda and impose penalties against them in accordance with the law.
Head of the Electoral Commission’s media team said that 39 coalitions, as well as 29 parties and 66 individual candidates are expected to participate in the upcoming elections. According to Commission data, more than 23 million people are entitled to cast their votes in the provincial council elections, including over 10 million people who have updated their electoral records so far. Head of the
Regional Council of Ministers, Omid Sabah, announced on Wednesday that the necessary requirements had been secured to proceed with the parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which are scheduled for next February. Sabah headed a regional government delegation on a visit to Baghdad, where a meeting was held with the Independent High Electoral Commission to discuss the ongoing preparations for holding legislative elections. During a press conference, Sabah said that the regional government confirmed that the elections will be held on the scheduled date.
