Iraqi forces, displaced people vote early

Members of Iraq’s security forces and its internally displaced population headed to the polls in early voting yesterday ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections.

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Polls opened at 7am local time for members of the armed forces, who account for 1.3 million of the more than 21 million eligible voters and would be deployed for security purposes on election day, according to the state Iraqi News Agency.

More than 26,500 internally displaced people are also eligible for early voting.

The Nov 11 elections will be the sixth since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

More than 7,740 candidates, nearly a third of them women, are running for the 329-seat parliament.