The Islamic State group has threatened to attack Iraqi polling stations and voters during parliamentary elections next month.

In a message posted to the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, IS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir called on Sunni Iraqis to boycott the May 12 polls, the first since Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the jihadists in December.

"Oh Sunnis... we know that the government of Rafida (a pejorative Arabic term for Shiites) is on the verge of what they call elections," he said.

"Our judgement will apply to those who call for them and participate in them... The voting centres and those in them are targets for our swords, so stay away from them and do not walk nearby."

Sunni extremist groups have long targeted Shiites, a majority in Iraq.

Jihadist groups in Iraq have targeted every election since the 2003 US-led invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein and paved the way for Shiites to dominate every government since.

Voters and candidates in Iraq's election
Baghdad (AFP) April 22, 2018 - Iraqis are set to head to the polls on May 12 for parliamentary elections.

At the end of the ballot, the 329 members of parliament elected from party lists will be tasked with forming a government and electing a prime minister and president.

After the 2003 US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq held its first general election in January 2005, selecting a parliament tasked with drafting a new constitution.

It then held parliamentary elections in December 2005, with two subsequent polls in 2010 and 2014.

Here is everything you need to know about Iraq's 2018 parliamentary elections.

- Voters -

Nearly 24.5 million of Iraq's than 35 million people are registered to vote. They are spread out across 18 provinces.

Voters can cast their ballots at 8,148 polling stations across the country, all of which are equipped for electronic voting.

According to Iraqi authorities, nearly 11 million biometric identity cards have been distributed to authenticate identities.

The 285,564 internal refugees eligible to vote will do so in one of 166 polling stations in 70 camps spread across eight provinces in the country.

Iraqis in the diaspora can also vote in 19 countries.

Voters will select party lists and seats will be divided up according to the number of votes each list secures.

- Candidates -

There are 6,982 candidates, including 2,014 women, set to run in the polls.

They will be competing for 329 seats, including nine reserved for minorities -- Christians, Shabaks, Yezidis, Mandeans and Fayli Kurds -- and 83 for women.

Candidates, selected based on their position in the party, will be elected to four-year terms in parliament.

There are 87 party lists in this year's election.

The main lists are as follows:

- VICTORY COALITION, led by outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

This year, for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the ranks of the deposed leader's oldest opponents, the Shiite Dawa Party, are divided.

Abadi, who heads the Dawa Party, has put together a list composed mainly of civil society personalities that cross sectarian lines.

- CONQUEST ALLIANCE, led by Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Badr organisation and leader of the mostly Shiite Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units, which played a key role in rolling back Islamic State (IS) group jihadists.

His candidates officially quit their military roles to run for office.

- RULE OF LAW ALLIANCE, led by former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The list relies principally on the Dawa Party, which Maliki led before leaving office in 2014.

But while it is popular with public servants hired under his mandate, the list suffers from criticisms aimed at Maliki because IS seized one-third of the country under his watch.

- MARCHING TOWARDS REFORM, an unprecedented alliance between Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr and communists.

It includes mostly secular groups including the Iraqi Communist Party and Istiqama (Arabic for righteousness), a technocrat party backed by Sadr, who suspended his Ahrar bloc and called on his 33 ministers not to run in the polls.

- SUNNIS appear on several lists. The main list, "The National Alliance", is led by Shiite Vice President Iyad Allaqi -- who presents himself as secular -- and Sunni head of parliament Salim al-Joubouri.

Weakened after three years of IS rule, Sunnis could be the biggest loser in this year's elections.

- KURDS will head to polls with divided ranks to fill their northern autonomous region's 46 seats, two of which are reserved for Christians.

The main Kurdish parties are the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Kurdistan Patriotic Union (PUK).

There are also three opposition parties: the main Jamaa Islamiya, the newly created New Generation movement, and Goran (Kurdish for change).

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Three Shiites lead field for Iraq election
Baghdad (AFP) April 22, 2018
An incumbent prime minister, his ousted predecessor and a paramilitary chief instrumental in defeating the Islamic State group are the three favourites vying for Iraq's premiership. Since Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in the US-led invasion of 2003, the constitution has vested key powers in the prime minister, a post reserved for the majority Shiite population. Under a system of checks and balances designed to avoid a return to dictatorship, the winner of the May 12 parliamentary ele ... read more