![Iraq election commission backtracks on original turnout estimate](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has backtracked on a widely-reported estimate by one of its officials earlier Sunday who had suggested that some 72% of Iraqis eligible to vote had gone to the polls. In a cautionary statement the IECI said:
Turnout figures recently announced represent the enormous and understandable enthusiasm felt in the field on this historic day… However, these figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field. It will take some time for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to issue accurate figures on turnout.A Commission spokesman did suggest, however, that approximately eight million people may still have voted in the poll, about 60% of the eligible electorate. Aljazeera has more.