Iraq's top Shiite cleric calls for voting in upcoming elections
Top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called upon Iraqis to participate in the elections in large numbers and vote wisely.
![Iraqis register to obtain their voting cards ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Najaf, Iraq, Sept. 29, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2021-09/GettyImages-1235572446.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=atLUD231)
Less than two weeks to the parliamentary elections, the highest religious authority in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called Iraqis to vote in the upcoming early elections.
In the Sept. 29 statement, Sistani encouraged Iraqis to participate “consciously and responsibly in the upcoming elections,” calling the elections the safest way to take Iraq to a better future.