Voting turnout over 60% for Iraqi legislative elections

The turnout for the Iraqi legislative elections exceeded 60pct, with 12.1 million out of a total 20 million eligible voters taking part, said the elections' commission, which has started ballot counting. The numbers are expected to increase as some remote areas have yet to be accounted for, the head of the Independent High Electoral Commission Meqdad Al-Sharifi told a press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the commissioners' board official Kata Al-Zawbaei said that 165,532 overseas voters took to polling stations between Sunday and Monday for Iraq's first legislative elections since the withdrawal of US troops at the end of 2011. The elections had been monitored by representatives from the United Nations and the Arab League