The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq refused on Friday to bow down to political pressure and claims of voting fraud. It said that it was committed to counting the votes in last weekend’s elections electronically and with the equipment that was dedicated to this process. It added that those objecting to the vote, should file complaints according to the commission’s legal rules. The parliament is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. State of Law coalition MP Awatef Nehme told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We have damning evidence of voting fraud.” Kirkuk Governor Rakan Saeed al-Jabouri described the elections results in the province as a “disaster.” “Everyone, but the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was harmed from the results because it was the side that committed fraud,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The crisis in Kirkuk can only be resolved through a manual vote count, which is a demand voiced by the Arab, Turkmen and Kurdish political blocs,” he stressed. “It is not logical that the Kirkuk votes would have gone to a side that had lost its popularity due to wrong policies,” he continued, demanding that the technical problems at the electoral commission be fixed. Deputy director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies Dr. Bassel Hussein told Asharq Al-Awsat that there were many misgivings over the commission, “especially since it had partisan representation and was never independent.” It took a number of wrong measures since the beginning of the preparation for the elections, he said. These include opening the way for electoral alliances and then shutting it even before an electoral law was adopted. He explained that political blocs are usually formed based on an electoral law.