Turnout at Iraqi national election sluggish as many boycott polls

Electoral commission says turnout was 41% as disillusioned youth and middle classes opt to stay home

Iraqis have turned out in low numbers in a national election, with many boycotting a poll that people feared could reinforce a political system that had failed them.

Nationwide turnout at the sixth ballot since the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003 was 41%, the electoral commission said. In recent elections, turnout has averaged just over 65%, according to non-profit the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.