Widespread irregularities cast doubt on Iraqi elections

‘Tens of thousands’ unable to cast ballots

Compiled by Greg White

Feb. 2 (AGR) — Troubling details of the Jan. 30 Iraqi election are beginning to emerge, while many Iraqis are questioning the legitimacy of a voting process held amidst rampant violence and foreign occupation.

As election officials were compiling poll results and checking tallies, Iraqi officials admitted that there was a shortage of ballot papers in some cities with a large Sunni population.

In a Feb. 1 news conference, Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawir said "tens of thousands were unable to cast their votes because of the lack of ballots in Basra, Baghdad and Najaf."

The electoral commission said it was investigating remedies for the tens of thousands of people who were unable to vote in the polls due to a shortage of ballots.

"We are dealing with it now. Let us see what happens, we are very sorry," commission spokesperson Farid Ayar said. But officials were unable to say if there was a procedure for reopening the vote.

Mishaan Jiburi, an interim national assembly member, accused the commission of deliberately supplying insufficient materials in some Sunni areas, believing few would vote.

"I think the decision came from Baghdad. They were concerned with keeping Sunnis out of the game," he said.

Jiburi said ballot sheets were 36,000-40,000 short in Hawija, a largely Sunni Arab area southwest of oil-rich Kirkuk.

In the Shia towns of Najaf and Karbala, government officials barred voters who they believed would support the opposition from entering polling centers, according to Imad Shibib, head of the political office for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's National Accord party.

Haydar al-Musawi of the Iraqi National Congress, said Iraqi national guardsmen in the south of the country had pressured voters in their ballot choice.

There were numerous reports that voting in Baghdad was linked with receipt of food rations.

Many Iraqis said their names were marked off a list provided by the government agency that provides monthly food rations before they were allowed to vote. Some said they had to sign voter registration forms in order to pick up their food supplies.

“Two of the food dealers I know told me personally that our food rations would be withheld if we did not vote,” said Saeed Jodhet, a resident of Baghdad.

Sunni organizations – elections lacked legitimacy

In a statement following the balloting, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) said the balloting lacked legitimacy because of low Sunni participation.

As a result, the Association said the new leadership lacked a mandate to draft a new constitution and should be considered a temporary administration.

In an interview with Aljazeera, AMS spokesman Muhammad al-Kubaysi said low turnout in places such as Baghdad, Baquba and Samarra could have been prevented if there had been more time to create a genuine election.

"The voter goes to the polling stations not knowing who he is voting for in the first place. There are more than 7,700 candidates, and I challenge any Iraqi voter to name more than half a dozen."

He also criticized the huge number of groups on voting lists in which it was virtually impossible to know who the candidates were and what their backgrounds were.

"Their names have not been announced but have been kept secret... elections should never have been held under these present circumstances… it demonstrates a growing Iraqi awareness that these elections are indeed an American and not [an] Iraqi initiative,” al-Kubaysi said.

The Association called months ago on Sunnis to shun the polls because of the presence of US and other foreign troops.

A leading group of Iraqi Sunni clerics also deemed the elections illegitimate.

In a Feb. 2 statement, the Muslim Clerics' Association said that the "elections lack legitimacy because a large segment of different sects, parties and currents... boycotted [the election]. This means the coming national assembly and government that will emerge will not possess the legitimacy to enable them to draft the constitution or sign security or economic agreements."

Despite its rejection of the polls, the clerics said they would respect the decision of Iraqis who voted but would regard the new government as having only limited powers.

Low turnout in Sunni heartland

While relatively high turnouts were reported in northern Kurdish areas and certain Shia regions, polls were largely deserted in many cities north and west of Baghdad, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji.

According to journalists in Samarra, employees did not show up at heavily fortified polling centers and even police did not venture onto the streets.

"Nobody will vote in Samarra because of the security situation," said Taha Husain, the head of Samarra's local governing council. According to preliminary figures, fewer than 1,400 people cast ballots in the city of 200,000. The figure includes votes from soldiers and police, most of whom were recruited from the Shia south.

In Ramadi, a provincial capital to the west, one resident said most polling stations appeared to be closed.

"There are no cars in the street and although there have been people walking there is no sign of anyone going to vote," said Bilal al-Bedawi, a local resident. "The polling stations are closed and the election workers didn't come."

Mishan al-Jibury, a Sunni candidate from Mosul, said a lower turnout in Sunni areas was due to lack of security and functioning polling stations as well as calls for a boycott from Sunni groups opposed to the US military presence.

Residents of the Azamiyah district of Baghdad said the neighborhood's four polling centers did not open at all.

National Assembly to be formed

The election will create a 275-member National Assembly and 18 provincial legislatures. The assembly will draw up the country's permanent constitution and will select a president and two deputy presidents, who in turn will name a new prime minister and Cabinet to serve for 11 months until new elections are held.

Though it could take up to 10 days for official results to be known, the main Shiite Muslim Alliance stands to claim the biggest share of seats in the National Assembly.

The ticket headed by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite backed by the US, is running second in central and southern Iraq, according to politicians from several factions.

Despite their disparate aims and ideologies, all of the likely winners have their origins in the anti-Baathist opposition, and thus have a long history of dealing with one another both in exile and in Iraq's postwar government.

At least 65 killed in election day violence

The number of insurgent attacks on election day, 260, was the highest ever recorded for one day since the US occupation began. At least 65 people were killed in the fighting. Hundreds of Iraqis were also wounded in attacks across Baghdad, in Baquba and in the northern cities Mosul and Kirkuk.

Deadly mortar volleys hit Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City and struck voters at several sites in Balad, and Kirkuk in the north and Mahawil south of the capital.

Despite unprecedented security measures, nine people detonated suicide bombs throughout the day.

In one of the worst incidents, a suicide bomber walked on to a minibus in the Shia town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, and killed at least four other people.

“Our streets are filled with tanks and soldiers and our bridges are closed. All we are hearing is bombings all around us, and for the last two nights there have been many clashes that last a long time. We shouldn’t have had elections now because it’s just not practical with this horrible security,” said Layla Abdul Rahman, a high school English teacher.

“Baghdad looks like it’s having a war, not elections.”

Sources: Agence France-Presse, Aljazeera, BBC, Financial Times, Guardian, Inter Press Service, Knight Ridder, Reuters