US Elections results a tie in Iraq after Kurdish man holds mock poll in Halabja

The results showed a tie between Mr Biden and Mr Trump

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Not content simply joining the millions around the world watching the US Presidential Election from home, one man in northern Iraq has given his community a say.

I believe I showed what true democracy looks like.

Mukhtar Nuri, 42, held a mock election in the Kurdish Iraqi city of Halabja on Tuesday giving his community a choice between President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden – a race that can have huge implications for people around the world.

"America is a great country which can make decisions about every other," Mr Nuri told The National. "I asked myself, 'why can they make decisions about us but we cannot make any about them?'"

For two hours, people stepped up and filled out a ballot paper that showed the two candidates photos before dropping them into a large plastic ballot box.

Mukhtar Nuri
Mukhtar Nuri. Courtesy Mukhtar Nuri

The results came much faster than several American states where voting has slowed due to large numbers of postal ballots. But the outcome of Mr Nuri's poll closely mirrored the real split of the tight race.

With 62 votes in total, 31 backed Mr Trump and 31 voted for Joe Biden.

Mr Nuri’s experiment appeared to mirror the real election in other ways too. He said the younger generation generally favoured Mr Biden over Mr Trump.

Mr Nuri said his mock election had been important – even if it didn’t count to the final tally in the US.

“I believe I showed what true democracy looks like,” he said.

The city of Halabja, north-east of Baghdad in the Kurdish Region of Iraq, was attacked by then-president Saddam Hussein in 1988 and between 3,200 and 5,000 people were killed with mustard gas.

The massacre was raised at the subsequent trial of Saddam after the US invasion in 2003 that led to the death sentence and execution of the former dictator.