By Winthrop Rodgers
When Iraqi voters went to the polls on November 11 to elect a new parliament, some voters made a pragmatic calculation to support a party that could offer them patronage or employment. Others turned to political ideology, ethno-sectarian identity, or tribal affiliation to guide their choice. Despite better-than-expected turnout, millions stayed at home in protest or out of apathy.
In the Kurdistan Region, hundreds of thousands resorted to deliberately spoiling their ballots to vent the deep frustrations that have come to define the political landscape there. This tactic has become an established part of the political scene in recent years, but is under-explored in comparison with debates about voter turnout.
“I spoiled my ballot because I am tired of the corruption in the local parties and their complete lack of real change,” said one public school teacher in Sulaymaniyah, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to an analysis of data from the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), independent outlet Draw Media reported that there were 290,205 invalid ballots across the three constituencies in the Kurdistan Region — amounting to just over 9% of the total votes cast.
Sulaymaniyah province had the highest rate with 137,611 invalid ballots, or about 18.54% of that constituency’s total vote, followed by Erbil province with 116,900 ballots, 14.60%, and Duhok province with a comparatively smaller 34,694 ballots, 5.55%.
Even though spoiled ballots represented a higher percentage of the total in the previous election in 2021, 15.9%, their absolute number actually increased by nearly 34,334 in 2025.
Spoiled ballots came in different shapes. Some people subtly marked two or more parties on the ballot, while others wrote out political messages. Humorously, at least two voters indicated that they were supporting Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi this cycle.
Ballot spoiling appears to be a phenomenon particular to the Kurdistan Region. While nearly one in every ten ballots in the Kurdistan Region — and almost one in five in Sulaymaniyah — were invalid, the rate in federal areas of Iraq was far lower.
According to IHEC, Maysan province had the third-highest rate of invalid votes after Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, with 6.03%. Only two other federal provinces — Karbala and Diyala — cracked 5%. Mega-populous Baghdad was the only other constituency to have more than 100,000 invalid ballots.
For global comparison, just 1.2% of ballots were rejected or invalid in the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Meanwhile, in Ireland’s recent presidential election there was a public campaign to encourage voters to spoil their ballots led by figures on the political right. In the end, around 12.9% of ballots were spoiled, 10 times more than in the previous cycle.
This comparative data suggests that the number of invalid ballots in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil are the result of deliberate action, rather than accidents by careless or clueless voters. This sense was also felt by local analysts and journalists.
“I think most of these disregarded votes [were] canceled on purpose by people, by the voters themselves,” said Iraqi pollster Munqith Dagher.
Reasons for spoiling a ballot?
Observers identified several reasons behind spoiled ballots in the particular context of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
The first reason is to stage a dignified, if private, protest against the lack of viable political options.
“I marked the ballot in a way that clearly made it invalid, a deliberate sign of rejection,” the teacher said. “For me to vote for a party next time, they would need to show genuine accountability, transparency, and real action against corruption — not just promises.”
Second, some voters want to defy political pressure, but in a safe and protected way. Throughout the country, political parties exert tremendous influence through patronage, often by dispensing employment or government benefits. Voters who benefit are expected to repay their patrons on election day.
One obvious and important sector is the security forces, which employ hundreds of thousands of potential voters and are disciplined and monitored institutions that often have close ties with political parties. In federal areas, this includes the military, police, Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and tribal militias, while the Peshmerga and Asayish are the most relevant units in the Kurdistan Region.
The security forces have their own special voting day, which fell on November 9 this cycle. Ostensibly, this frees them up to ensure security during general voting. However, it also gives their political patrons a chance to monitor who votes loyally and who does not.
In the Kurdistan Region, it is widely believed that members of the security forces are encouraged to photograph their ballots, despite a ban on mobile phones in the voting booth, in order to prove how they voted. Anecdotally, some who do not authentically support the party that controls their unit spoil their ballot after taking the clean photo.
“Many invalid votes likely resulted from the special voting of security forces, who were threatened or pressured to vote for the two major parties,” explained Neaz Naif Mustafa, a journalist at Draw Media.
Several members of the security forces in the Kurdistan Region were approached while reporting this piece, but they either said that they cast valid votes or declined to answer questions out of sensitivity for their jobs.
A third reason has to do with Iraq’s electoral procedures. Some minority religious and ethnic groups have quota seats in parliament, but controversially the lists are open, so any voter, regardless of identity, can cast a ballot. Some political parties like the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PMF factions run organized campaigns to encourage their supporters, particularly those casting ballots during the special vote, to vote in these races and ensure that their proxies win.
Mustafa suggested that some of these voters “unintentionally select both their party list and a quota candidate, which automatically invalidates the vote.”
Fourth, some voters remain concerned that their voting cards will be used to commit electoral fraud. One public servant, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that by casting a spoiled ballot they had ensured that no party would steal their vote.
“I truly do not trust this whole electronic system. I do not trust the electoral commission,” they said.
In recent cycles, a number of biometric safeguards were put in place to prevent parties from stealing votes or packing ballot boxes, including thumbprint and facial recognition scans that are linked to a person’s voter card. Nevertheless, the persistent fears about electoral fraud reflect how widespread rigging was in past cycles and the negative effect that fraud has on voter psychology.
Poisoned water, spoiled ballots
However, the most common reason for spoiling a ballot is frustration with the lack of options at the ballot box. Many voters, including a large portion of those who stayed home, do not believe that the political parties will improve their lives.
A second public school teacher said they spoiled their vote because “none of the parties had my trust. The experiences of recent years have proved this.”
In particular they cited the decade-long salary crisis, the ineffectiveness of parliament, and the poor viability of independent candidates as reasons for their political disappointment.
“I marked the names of several parties and candidates, so as not to leave my voting card unsealed lest it be forged,” the second teacher explained, citing additional fears about fraud.
The rate of spoiling ballots often reflects local conditions. In places where voters are frustrated, it can make its presence dramatically visible. Spoiling is less common in constituencies where voters are more content or their behavior is heavily regulated by social and political forces.
Draw Media identified one section of Darbandikhan, a town in Sulaymaniyah province, where invalid ballots “won” the second largest vote total compared with actual political parties.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which runs the political machine in the province, received 3,346 votes, or about 25% of the total cast, followed by 2,685 invalid ballots, or about 20%. The relatively new opposition party, Halwest, came in third with 2,221 votes. No other party received more than 1,500 votes in that section.
Darbandikhan used to be a stronghold of the opposition Gorran (Change) Movement in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but voters progressively soured on the party after it joined the cabinet of the regional government. Gorran decided not to run this cycle after losing supporters and splintering into two factions.
A particular sources of anger among Darbandikahn’s residents is poor water quality. The town sits downstream of Sulaymaniyah city and major industrial sites. As a result, untreated sewage and toxic chemicals have collected in the nearby reservoir and allegedly contributed to high cancer rates among locals.
The PUK has repeatedly promised to build a water treatment plant, but the project remains incomplete. Residents staged a month-long sit-in and general strike in March 2023 to voice their anger over the issue to no avail.
Disappointed with the failure of the opposition and forced to endure a disgusting and dangerous public health crisis by the local ruling party, voters apparently decided to spoil their ballots.
“The leaders of political parties should be concerned about this,” said Dagher.
Duhok province, where the 5.55% rate of invalid ballots was noticeably lower than elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region, potentially offers a counterexample.
In recent years, the KDP has spent considerable time and money attempting to improve public services. Along with the economy, potholes and blackouts are among the most common complaints from voters. By actually fulfilling past campaign promises, the KDP may have won over some voters who would otherwise have been tempted to spoil their ballots.
Voter behavior in Duhok is also guided by several hierarchical influences that discourage dissent, however private it may be. First, the KDP is not shy about punishing those who challenge its power. It has put dozens of journalists and activists behind bars in recent years, including an episode infamously known as the Badinan trials. Second, Duhok is also a strongly tribal part of the Kurdistan Region and members often follow the guidance of their tribal leader at the ballot box.
Nevertheless, the nearly 300,000 invalid ballots in the Kurdistan Region provides a dire warning for ruling and opposition parties alike. This phenomenon may be less visible than a low turnout rate, but it strongly indicates dissatisfaction with the political options before voters and a willingness to take a stand.
“I chose to cast a ballot instead of staying home because not voting can be dismissed, but a spoiled ballot shows I was present and still refused to support any of them,” the first teacher concluded.
Winthrop Rodgers is a Chatham House associate fellow and journalist who focuses on politics, human rights, and political economy in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.
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