BAGHDAD, May 12, 2018 (News Wires) - Polls closed across Iraq on Saturday evening in the first national election since the country declared victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The vote -- the fourth since the 2003 U.S.-led toppling of Saddam Hussein -- was marked by reports of low turnout and irregularities. Results are expected within the next 48 hours, according to the independent body that oversees Iraq's election, but negotiations to choose a prime minister tasked with forming a government are expected to drag on for months. Voting began early Saturday morning in a contest that had no clear front-runner after weeks of official campaigning. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's stiffest competition came from political parties with closer ties to Iran. Baghdad's streets began to fill up with cars before voting concluded Saturday evening after al-Abadi partially lifted a security curfew in an effort to improve turnout. Nearly all civilian vehicles had been banned from Baghdad's streets Saturday morning and many voters complained of having to walk more than 2.5 miles to reach polling stations. Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric spoke out on the issue of voter participation Saturday afternoon, encouraging Iraqis to vote "to prevent the arrival of a corrupt parliament." In Mosul, turnout appeared to be higher with over 40 per cent of eligible voters casting their ballots at polling stations across the city, according to the deputy commander of Nineveh operation command, Brig. Gen. Jassem Mohammed Khalil. For those who did attempt to vote, some in Baghdad complained of voting irregularities at polling stations linked to a new electronic voting system implemented for the first time this year in an effort to reduce fraud. Nouri al-Maliki, al-Abaid's predecessor and arguably his most powerful opponent, said he was aware of "violations" at some polling stations in Iraq, adding that the process lacked proper oversight. "We are not reassured," al-Maliki told the Associated Press (AP) in a phone interview. In central Baghdad, voters supporting al-Abadi said they are doing so because they give him credit for Iraq's military victory over ISIS. Al-Abadi "took revenge" for civilians killed in insurgent attacks in Iraq "with the victory over Daesh," said 71-year-old Felihah Hassan, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
