No more “purple fingers”… Iraq cancels electoral ink
No more “purple fingers”… Iraq cancels electoral ink
2025-07-20 02:14
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Independent High Electoral Commission decided on Sunday to cancel the use of “electoral ink” on Election Day for the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 11, due to the use of biometric cards and matching three fingerprints of voters.
“The Board of Commissioners has decided to cancel the use of electoral ink on election day, due to the presence of the biometric card, the matching of three fingerprints between the voter’s live fingerprints and those stored in the electronic verification device, in addition to the cameras that will be connected to the verification devices on election day,” Jumana al-Ghalay, the commission’s spokeswoman, told Shafaq News Agency.
Al-Ghalay added, “This eliminates the need for electoral ink, as electoral agencies guarantee voters’ right to participate in elections.”
Election ink is known to be indelible and is usually placed on voters’ index fingers during the election period to prevent them from casting their votes more than once (electoral fraud), i.e., double voting. The ink is permanent for 48 hours.
shafaq.com
