Iraqis are heading to the polls in a parliamentary election in which Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is seeking a second term and which a growing young electorate sees as a vehicle for established parties to divide up the country's oil wealth.

Sudani's bloc is forecast to win the most seats but fall short of a majority, potentially meaning months of post-election talks among Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim as well as Kurdish parties to divvy up government posts and pick a prime minister.

Elections in Iraq are increasingly marked by low turnout. Many voters have lost faith in a system which has failed to break a pattern of state capture by powerful parties with armed loyalists, while ordinary Iraqis complain of endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.

Turnout hit a record low

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