November 11 Iraq held its seventh parliamentary elections. Despite widespread worries about apathy amongst the public there was an increase in voters and the highest participation rate since 2014.
The Iraqi Election Commission issued early results that showed 56% of voters participated in the 2025 vote. That was up from 41% in 2021 and 44.8% in 2018 and was the highest rate since 62% in 2014.
A total of 12,003,143 people cast their ballots which was up from 9,077,779 in 2021. This was the most voters since 13 million took part in 2014.
The higher voter rate was despite a drop in the number of Iraqis who registered. This year 21 million got their new voter cards versus 22 million in 2021 and 23 million in 2018.
Many believed there would be a drop in turnout this year. One major factor was Moqtada al-Sadr calling for a boycott. He has the largest mass movement in the country and won the most seats in parliament in 2021. Many Iraqis were also disillusioned with the political class who have been in power since 2005.
On the other hand there is massive cheating in every election in Iraq so the numbers are never accurate on how many people actually voted. Voter cards for example are bought and sold along with other measures to ensure that the ruling parties win.
|
Year |
Voter Turnout |
Registered Voters |
Voter Particiaption |
|
8,440,471 |
14,662,639 |
58.3% |
|
|
12,396,631 |
15,568,702 |
79.6% |
|
|
2010 |
11,888,911 |
15,568,702 |
76.4% |
|
13,640,000 |
22,000,000 |
62% |
|
|
10,374,533 |
23,140,739 |
44.8% |
|
|
9,077,779 |
22,116,368 |
41% |
|
|
12,003,143 |
21,404,291 |
56% |
SOURCES
Al Aalem, “After Sadr’s boycott turnout drops and warnings of popular unrest,” 3/29/25
Aldroubi, Mina, “Division and voter apathy dominate Iraqi election,” The National, 10/9/25
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Iraq Parliamentary Election Paves Way for Tough Talks to Form Govt,” 11/11/25
Basitkey, Nibras and Taylor, Victoria, “Tracking Iraq’s 2025 elections and coalition building,” The Atlantic Council, 11/9/25
Hanna, Michael Wahid, “Some Iraqi Odds and Ends,” Democracy Arsenal, 3/10/10
Inter-Parliamentary Union, “Elections in 2014”
- “Elections In December 2005”
- “Iraq Elections Held In 2005”
The Independent High Electoral Commission, “2018 Election of the House of Representatives and provincial councils”
- “Announcement of the Voter Turnout Percentage for the Iraqi Council of Representatives Elections 2021,” Twitter, 10/10/21
Al Sumaria, “In numbers: Voter turnout and number of voters in the parliamentary elections (document),” 11/11/25
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “Country Of Origin Information Iraq,” October 2005
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