Elections are one of the fundamental pillars of the democratic system, as they represent the true instrument for expressing the popular will. However, this will is often distorted through unlawful means, including pressuring voters with promises. Such conduct undermines trust in the electoral process and constitutes a form of fraud that requires legislative intervention through deterrent criminal penalties.
Promises made by a candidate, while being fully aware of their inability to fulfill them, fall within the scope of unlawful influence over the voter’s freedom. They are no less dangerous than vote-buying or coercion. In fact, their danger lies in the difficulty of detection and proof, as they often take a rhetorical or propagandistic form. Nonetheless, the candidate’s prior knowledge of the impossibility of fulfilling these promises distinguishes such conduct and renders it a crime in itself, rather than a mere electoral violation.
The Iraqi Parliament Elections Law No. (9) of 2020 regulates the conduct of the electoral process and, in some of its provisions, criminalizes acts such as vote-buying, voter influence, or coercion. Although the texts did not explicitly mention "promises," Article (32) criminalizes the act of unlawfully influencing voters, which can be interpreted as including the making of false or unachievable promises intended to alter the voter’s will.
To overcome this interpretive issue, we propose adding a new article to the law with the following wording:
“An electoral crime shall be deemed committed by any candidate who deliberately seeks to influence the will of voters through promises he or she knows in advance to be unachievable or unenforceable. The penalty shall be imprisonment for a term not less than one year and not exceeding three years, and a fine of no less than 5,000,000 (five million) Iraqi dinars, or either of these penalties. In addition, the candidate’s electoral victory may be annulled.”
It is evident that addressing the phenomenon of false promises is a necessity to safeguard voter freedom and preserve the principle of electoral integrity. While Iraqi law provides a general framework for criminalizing unlawful voter influence, the inclusion of an explicit provision criminalizing false promises as an independent act would strengthen oversight over electoral campaigns and enhance citizens’ trust in the democratic process. Thus, criminal liability becomes a genuine deterrent against any attempt to manipulate the will of the people.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali Jassim Mohammed Al-Saadi
College of Law
Al-Mustaqbal University, the top university among private universities in Iraq
Recommended News (Click Here)