Aswat al-Iraq: The Diwaniya Police Department has taken draconian security measures within preparations for the country's local elections, the department chief said on Friday. "Police forces tightened security measures to protect ballot stations and voters on Saturday (Jan. 31) as 15,000 personnel were deployed all over the province of Diwaniya," Brig. Abdelaziz al-Salihi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Enough security forces were sent to ballot stations in the province and all the roads leading to the stations with heaps of dust and barbed wires," Salihi added.After the inclusion of those born in 1991, the number of voters in Diwaniya province reached 594,000. Candidates in the province are 888, including 238 women, from 57 political entities, six of which are coalitions, vying over 28 seats in the upcoming provincial council of Diwaniya.
Meanwhile, Hassan al-Waeli, the chief of Iraq's Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC)'s office in Diwaniya, said that 10,500 employees will work in 243 election centers distributed over 1,569 stations all over the province.