Iraq's election commission ordered a manual recount of ballots from the March 7th parliamentary vote in Baghdad after complaints of irregularities and fraud by competing parties, Iraq's state-owned television reported.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc said last week that its own investigation into the poll shows it was deprived of 750,000 votes - enough to change the outcome of the elections. It demanded a recount in the capital and four other provinces, saying it would settle for a recount in just Baghdad, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the parliament's 325 seats.
The Shia Muslim State of Law group of parties came second in the ballot, winning 89 seats to the 91 garnered by former prime minister Ayad Allawi's secular and Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc.
Both groups are seeking allies to form a governing coalition after failing to secure a majority of 163 seats.
The move would help Mr al-Maliki's aspirations to be prime minister for a second term, said Faleh Abdul-Jabar, director of the Beirut-based Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies. "If al-Maliki comes out on top, he will deal with Allawi from a position of strength," Mr Abdul-Jabar said. "He will claim to be the boss in negotiations."
Mr al-Maliki challenged the preliminary results as soon as they were announced on March 26th, calling them "not final".
He said the Independent High Electoral Commission would need to look into complaints of fraud made by his bloc and others. The recount will likely lead to more delays in certifying the final results.
The United Nations envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, has said the election, in which 11.5 million votes were cast, was "credible" and met "all reasonable demands and standards".
The elections come before a scheduled withdrawal of US forces from their current 99,000 troop strength to 50,000 by August.
Bloomberg