A manual recount of votes from Iraq’s May 12th parliamentary elections began on Tuesday (July 3rd) in an attempt to end the country's political stalemate, The National reported.

The recount began with Kirkuk, one of the provinces that has seen major security and political tension over allegations of voting fraud.

"[Iraq's] Independent High Electoral Commission has begun the recount process in Kirkuk" and will proceed to other areas that have received complaints, said commission spokesman Laith Hamza, according to AFP.

"The counting will be conducted by local electoral offices in numerous cities where a high record of complaints were made, including Kirkuk, Sulaimaniya, Erbil, Dohuk, Ninawa, Salaheddine and Anbar," said Saad Al Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Suspect ballot boxes were transferred and stored in Kirkuk's municipality offices late on Monday.

"The results may take one to two weeks or even a month to be announced, but the decision is not up to the government to make, it is now in the hands of the supreme court," al-Hadithi said.

The results will be taken to the high court to be ratified.

The recount will be carried out one province at a time, said Jaber al-Jaberi, a politician representing Anbar.