In Iraq, the removal of “election ink” raises fears of fraud
This is a long-standing practice in the Middle East and other parts of the world. In Iraq, since 2005, voters who have cast their ballots have been required to dip a finger—the thumb or index finger, depending on the country—in indelible ink before leaving the polling station, primarily to prevent voters from casting multiple ballots.
But on July 20, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission, responsible for organizing elections in the country, announced the end of the use of this ink during the next legislative elections scheduled for November 11.
A decision which “sparks a broad debate on the integrity of the electoral process,” explains the Iraqi website Al-Alam Al-Jadid .
The commission justified this decision by explaining that "modern technologies and electronic procedures" will be put in place to verify the identity of voters, thus making the use of indelible ink "unnecessary" , reports the Iraqi daily Al-Sabah .
In preparation for the upcoming elections, the government plans to provide biometric voter cards to those registered on the electoral roll and to introduce a system of fingerprint verification and eye scans at polling stations.
“While indelible ink has long been seen as a practical and symbolic safeguard in a country where institutional trust is fragile, modernization advocates argue that Iraq’s use of biometric registration and electronic systems now offers stronger protections,” writes the Iraqi website +964 .
But for some experts, the elimination of indelible ink "constitutes a serious flaw that could allow voters to vote more than once, in the event of failure of human and technological verification procedures," warns the Iraqi daily Az-Zaman .
“The ink was not a mere symbolic tool, but rather a first line of defense against double voting and fraud, and its cancellation at this stage raises questions about the transparency and integrity of future elections.”
This controversy comes, Al-Alam Al-Jadid points out, as the "market" for fake voter cards and "vote buying" is booming, with the price of a card now reaching $400 [around 340 euros].
It also appears in a context of political fog, with several parties and leaders having expressed their intention to boycott the next election, such as the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, whose party won the last elections in 2021 before being removed from power under pressure from pro-Iran parties and militias.
In this context, observers expect a low turnout, "due to popular discontent and the feeling that changing the political system is difficult."
