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Iraq Delays Result, "Yes" Victory Watered Down
After the country's electoral commission said it was rechecking ballots, Iraq was forced Monday, October17 , to delay the announcement of results from its referendum on a new constitution.
As workers tallied votes in Baghdad, the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said it "needs several more days to complete this difficult and complex operation after finding that the figures from most provinces were too high," in an apparent reference to turnout levels, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"This will require re-examination, comparison and verification because they are relatively high compared with international averages for elections," a statement said.
"The commission will only announce results when they have been verified."
The delay came after the commission said six majority Shiite provinces in southern Iraq had voted by more than 90 percent in favor of the constitution, while two Sunni-dominated provinces appeared to have rejected the text, by 80 percent in Salaheddin and by 54 percent in Diyala.
Officials estimated that more than half of Iraq's15 . 5million registered voters had cast ballots in the essentially peaceful referendum Saturday.
Iraq's Shiite and Kurds strongly support the constitution, while Sunnis generally oppose it.
Last-minute changes were made to the document to persuade Sunni voters to give their approval, including provisions for further amendments by lawmakers to be elected in mid-December elections.
Unhappy
Abdul Hussein al-Hindawi, a senior member of Iraq's Independent Election Commission, said he was unhappy with early reports of a "yes" victory.
"We are trying to remain cool. Our credibility depends on it," he told AFP.
Hindawi said he had been "surprised" by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's brief forecast Sunday of voters' approval, saying: "As far as I know, she's not a member of the electoral commission."
But a source close to the electoral commission acknowledged that it seemed "very difficult" for the "no" vote to win.
The constitution requires a simple majority to be approved but could be defeated if two-thirds of voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject it.
There are majority Sunni populations in four provinces -- Al-Anbar, Diyala, Nineveh and Salaheddin -- and all reported strong voter turnout.
Media reports of a "yes" victory in Nineveh, which includes the restive mixed city of Mosul were refuted by regional electoral head Dhaher Habib al-Juburi, who said: "There is no truth to these reports," and stressed it would take days for the ballots to be properly counted.
Sunni sources in Nineveh told Al-Jazeera over75 % of voters in the province gave the controversial charter the thumbs down.
Two Sunni-dominated provinces had rejected the text, central commission spokesman Farid Ayyar, citing provisional figures of 80 percent in Salaheddin and 54 percent in Diyala.
Results from the two other Sunni-dominated provinces, Al-Anbar and Nineveh, were therefore crucial.
"The general trend in Al-Anbar is 'no,'" said Adel Al-Lami, president of the commission, without giving further details.
Pale neon lighting illuminated election workers in Baghdad as they opened clear plastic boxes containing vote tallies brought in from around the country.
Wearing white T-shirts and baseball caps bearing the electoral commission logo, workers emptied the contents onto long wooden tables, before the data was entered by batteries of computer operators.
"We trust in the ballot boxes," electoral commission officer Aida Salah said. "If it's no, it's no, if it's yes, it's yes."
Earlier counts from the referendum on the US-backed constitution suggested the controversial document has been approved by Iraqis, with Sunni leaders crying foul.
Results released by local officials showed a strong "No" vote in Salahaddin province, one of at least three with a Sunni Arab majority that might have helped form a veto, reported Reuters.
According to counts that local officials provided to the Associated Press, the "no" campaign appeared to have made the two-thirds threshold in Anbar province, the vast western Sunni heartland.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-10/17/article09.shtml
"This will require re-examination, comparison and verification because they are relatively high compared with international averages for elections," a statement said.
"The commission will only announce results when they have been verified."
The delay came after the commission said six majority Shiite provinces in southern Iraq had voted by more than 90 percent in favor of the constitution, while two Sunni-dominated provinces appeared to have rejected the text, by 80 percent in Salaheddin and by 54 percent in Diyala.
Officials estimated that more than half of Iraq's15 . 5million registered voters had cast ballots in the essentially peaceful referendum Saturday.
Iraq's Shiite and Kurds strongly support the constitution, while Sunnis generally oppose it.
Last-minute changes were made to the document to persuade Sunni voters to give their approval, including provisions for further amendments by lawmakers to be elected in mid-December elections.
Unhappy
Abdul Hussein al-Hindawi, a senior member of Iraq's Independent Election Commission, said he was unhappy with early reports of a "yes" victory.
"We are trying to remain cool. Our credibility depends on it," he told AFP.
Hindawi said he had been "surprised" by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's brief forecast Sunday of voters' approval, saying: "As far as I know, she's not a member of the electoral commission."
But a source close to the electoral commission acknowledged that it seemed "very difficult" for the "no" vote to win.
The constitution requires a simple majority to be approved but could be defeated if two-thirds of voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject it.
There are majority Sunni populations in four provinces -- Al-Anbar, Diyala, Nineveh and Salaheddin -- and all reported strong voter turnout.
Media reports of a "yes" victory in Nineveh, which includes the restive mixed city of Mosul were refuted by regional electoral head Dhaher Habib al-Juburi, who said: "There is no truth to these reports," and stressed it would take days for the ballots to be properly counted.
Sunni sources in Nineveh told Al-Jazeera over75 % of voters in the province gave the controversial charter the thumbs down.
Two Sunni-dominated provinces had rejected the text, central commission spokesman Farid Ayyar, citing provisional figures of 80 percent in Salaheddin and 54 percent in Diyala.
Results from the two other Sunni-dominated provinces, Al-Anbar and Nineveh, were therefore crucial.
"The general trend in Al-Anbar is 'no,'" said Adel Al-Lami, president of the commission, without giving further details.
Pale neon lighting illuminated election workers in Baghdad as they opened clear plastic boxes containing vote tallies brought in from around the country.
Wearing white T-shirts and baseball caps bearing the electoral commission logo, workers emptied the contents onto long wooden tables, before the data was entered by batteries of computer operators.
"We trust in the ballot boxes," electoral commission officer Aida Salah said. "If it's no, it's no, if it's yes, it's yes."
Earlier counts from the referendum on the US-backed constitution suggested the controversial document has been approved by Iraqis, with Sunni leaders crying foul.
Results released by local officials showed a strong "No" vote in Salahaddin province, one of at least three with a Sunni Arab majority that might have helped form a veto, reported Reuters.
According to counts that local officials provided to the Associated Press, the "no" campaign appeared to have made the two-thirds threshold in Anbar province, the vast western Sunni heartland.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-10/17/article09.shtml
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The ballot boxes were being taken to Baghdad on Tuesday to be checked by election officials investigating "unusually high" vote totals in areas said to be predominantly Shia and Kurdish provinces, where as many as 99% of the voters reportedly approved Iraq's draft constitution.
The investigation by Iraq's election commission, which was announced on Monday, has raised the possibility that the results of the referendum could be called into question.
"The sandstorm ended Monday night, ballots boxes are now arriving here again from the provinces, and our employees have resumed their counting," said Adil al-Lami, head of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq.
"If we suspect that the numbers are higher or lower than we expected, we have to double-check them, and this audit means it might be several more days before we announce the final outcome," he said.
"We are not concerned whether the outcome is 'yes' or 'no'. We are only interested in making the process technically a success."
He said the commission was a neutral body acting as a referee.
Questions about irregularities
The investigation by the commission has raised questions about irregularities in the balloting.
Word of the review came on Monday as Sunni Arab leaders repeated accusations of fraud after initial reports from the provinces suggested the constitution had passed.
Among the allegations are that police took ballot boxes from heavily "no" districts and that some "yes" areas had more votes than registered voters.
The electoral commission made no mention of fraud, and an official with knowledge of the election process cautioned that it was too early to say whether the unusual numbers were incorrect or would affect the outcome.
But questions about the numbers raised tensions over Saturday's referendum, which has sharply divided Iraqis.
Most of the Shia and the Kurds - the coalition that controls the government - support the charter, while most Sunni Arabs sharply opposed a document they fear will tear Iraq to pieces.
Irregularities in Shia and Kurdish areas, expected to vote strongly "yes", may not affect the outcome.
Doubts
The main electoral battlegrounds were provinces with mixed populations, two of which went strongly "yes". There were conflicting reports whether those two provinces were among those with questionable figures.
At Baghdad's counting centre, election workers were cutting open plastic bags of tally sheets sent by plane and helicopter from provincial stations.
Nearby, more workers, dressed in white T-shirts and caps bearing the election commission's slogan, are sitting behind computer screens punching in the numbers.
Election officials in many provinces have released their initial counts, indicating that the charter has been approved.
But the commission found that the number of yes votes in most provinces appeared unusually high and would be audited, with random samples taken from ballot boxes to test them.
The high numbers were seen among the nine provinces of the south and the three in the north, al-Lami said.
Up to 98% say yes
Those provinces reported to AP yes votes above 90%, with some as high as 97% and 98%.
Two provinces that are crucial to the results - Ninevah and Diyala, which have mixed Sunni, Shia and Kurd populations - were not among those that appeared unusual.
But the official with knowledge of the counting process said the unexpected results were not isolated to the Shia and Kurdish provinces and were "all around the country".
Sunni opponents needed to win over either Diyala or Ninevah to veto the constitution.
Sectarian balance unknown
Sunnis had to get a two-thirds no vote in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces to defeat the charter, and they appeared to have got it in western Anbar and central Salah al-Din, both Sunni.
Ninevah and Diyala are each believed to have a slight Sunni Arab majority.
But results reported by provincial electoral officials indicated startlingly powerful yes votes of up to 70% in each.
Allegations of fraud in those areas could throw the final outcome into question.
But questions of whether the reported strong yes vote there is unusual are complicated by the fact Iraq has not had a proper census in 15 years, meaning the sectarian balance is not firmly known.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1075C7AE-6520-4C30-A057-D1BD35E8E84E.htm