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Los Angeles -- In an effort to produce the
most inclusive possible results, Iraq's interim
government is allowing as many as a million Iraqis
living outside the country to vote. But many of the
Californians eligible to participate complain the
process is badly muddled and marred by a vast
information vacuum.
For starters, some of the thousands of Iraqi
Americans in California say they find the
eligibility rules confusing for the Jan. 30 vote,
and several eagerly questioned a reporter for
details, occasionally expressing surprise that they
might be allowed to cast ballots. Just getting basic
information, several said, is an adventure.
"Honestly, we don't know anything," said Arkan Somo,
a Chaldean, or Iraqi Catholic, living in San Diego's
large expatriate community. He added that he had
placed a half-dozen calls to U.N. headquarters in
New York trying to track down the polling addresses
-- still undetermined -- and to nail down loose bits
of information about the procedures.
"One, he gave me a telephone number in Jordan and
said I had to call there," said Somo. "Jordan? I
live in the U.S. I think it's a disgrace, in my
opinion."
Many Iraqis also said there was little information
on the political parties contending for the seats in
the Assembly -- more than 100 -- and that, even for
those Iraqis who can navigate the election rules,
the fact that Los Angeles is the sole West Coast
polling station means not one, but two inconvenient
trips: one to register, and a second to mark a
four-page paper ballot.
"To drive or fly to Los Angeles to register, and
then come back again to vote, that is impossible, a
huge financial cost," said Carlo Ganjeh, the
secretary of the Bay Area chapter of the Assyrian
Universal Alliance, a group of Christian Iraqis.
As a result, many Iraqi Americans said the election
experiment may prove more symbol than substance, an
uncomfortable and melancholy reminder of the immense
hurdles Iraq faces in its bloody political journey.
"If you talk to a lot of people, I think the main
feeling is confusion," said Ban Alwardi, an Iraqi
immigration lawyer and president of the Los Angeles
Chapter of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination
Committee, a national civil rights organization.
"There are a lot of people who are doubtful about
the legitimacy of the elections, but at the same
time they are really hopeful that something good
will come of them. The feelings are genuine. That's
about the best you can say."
As the child of Iraqi-born parents, Alwardi may
qualify to cast a ballot in the election, but when
she was told, it came as a shock.
"Wait, I can vote?" she asked. "That's the first
time I heard that."
The plan to permit Iraqi expatriates to vote in the
election was decided only in November by the
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which is
conducting the polling.
The commission retained the International
Organization of Migration, an independent body
loosely affiliated with the United Nations, to run
the polling in 14 countries, mostly in the Middle
East, Europe and North America.
Within the United States, members of the far-flung
Iraqi American community will have to physically
appear at a polling place in one of just five
cities: Detroit, Chicago, Washington, Nashville and
Los Angeles. Worse, eligible Iraqis will have to
appear, in person, twice.
First, from Jan. 17 through Jan. 23, they must
register, documentation in hand. And then from Jan.
28 to Jan. 30 they must appear again, to mark the
ballot that lists more than 100 parties vying for
seats in an Assembly that will draft a new
constitution.
The U.S. vote is being run by Jeremy Copeland, 34, a
journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. who
was based in India until a few weeks ago. This will
be the first time he has helped supervise an
election.
In an interview, Copeland was confident of the
mission but far less sure of how it will be
accomplished. He acknowledged the dearth of
information and the need, with just a couple of
weeks to go, to lease the polling sites in the five
cities.
The organization has set up a Web site to provide
information -- www. iraqocv.org -- but has done
almost no outreach. Copeland said he has run one
town hall-type meeting at a Holiday Inn in
Alexandria, Va. About 150 people showed up, he said,
most asking the same basic questions about the
process.
"I'm pretty involved in the community and public
affairs, and I really watch what is happening in
Iraq," said Auday Arabo, a Chaldean who is a former
prosecutor and now the executive director of the
California Independent Grocers and Convenience
Stores, a trade group based in San Diego. "I watch
for these things. But nothing has come my way. I
don't know the candidates or even if I'm really able
to vote. They just aren't getting the information to
the communities."
The Arab American Institute estimates that there are
about 350,000 Iraqi Americans, concentrated largely
in the Detroit region, Chicago and San Diego, with
scatterings elsewhere.
Copeland said he had received many complaints about
the lack of a polling station in San Diego, but he
insisted Los Angeles was a reasonable compromise
considering that Iraqis are spread around
California, including the Bay Area.
"Between you and me, we kind of get the feeling that
the organization has been tardy, not on the ball,"
said Dr. Ridha Hajjar, a specialist in internal
medicine and the imam at the Ahlul Beyt Mosque in
Pomona, east of Los Angeles. "Maybe this is a
reflection of all that's going on in Iraq."
Despite the logistical problems, Hajjar said, Iraqi
Americans were still eager to participate.
"We don't really know how the seats will be divided
or who can vote or where we will vote," Hajjar said.
"But for our community there is some sense of
belonging that comes from this. It's the first time
they're trying to do this, so let's get through it."
Some are just trying to make the best of a difficult
situation. Alyaa Majeed, her daughter, Zina, and her
husband, Safaa Hasan, said they planned to turn a
trip to Los Angeles to vote, from their home in San
Jose, into an opportunity for bonding through an
important cause.
"I like this whole process, driving, being together,
to prove to each other we are still capable, that
maybe we can change something," said Alyaa Majeed,
37. "This feeling is very important for all of us."
Of course, some of the tempestuous debates roiling
Iraq have spilled over into this country, further
clouding the voting process. For instance, Alwardi,
the Los Angeles attorney, insisted that the American
military presence in Iraq made the vote a sham.
"You can't teach democracy through the barrel of a
gun," said Alwardi, who opposed the war despite her
opposition to Saddam Hussein's regime. "Definitely
there is so much uncertainty about the mechanics of
the election, but even before we talk about that,
there is the question of legitimacy. There are
cities under siege, where they don't have food or
medicine, and you're asking them to vote?"
Rauf Naqishbendi, 50, an Iraqi Kurd who lives in
Pacifica, said he feared that too many outside
countries, especially the United States, Kuwait and
Iran, were trying to sway the elections to suit
their own purposes and that his ethnic group risked
losing influence.
"The outcome will not be democratic or fair," said
Naqishbendi, a software engineer who left Iraq in
1976 as a political refugee. "That is going to be a
Kurdish nightmare."
Somo, of San Diego, said he was fed up, but he was
holding on to a slender shred of hope, given the
darkness engulfing his homeland.
"None of my brothers or sisters are going to take
the trip to L.A., and why should they?" said Somo,
who has 10 siblings.
But, he added, "we reach for the moon and sometimes
we don't get it. We have to settle for something
less."
Registration requirements
To register to vote from out of the country in
Iraq's election for its Transitional National
Assembly, applicants must present at least two
documents that confirm the following:
1. Identity. Identity can be proved with a
document issued by a state, state agency or
international institution that contains a photograph
of the applicant. This may include an Iraqi or
foreign passport or driver's license.
2. Voting age. Applicants must be 18 years
old, born on or before Dec. 31, 1986.
3. Iraqi nationality. To prove Iraqi
nationality, applicants must present a document
issued by a state, state agency, or international
institution that shows one of the following:
-- Birth in Iraq.
-- Current or previous citizenship of Iraq.
-- Birth to father of Iraqi nationality.
Source:
www.iraqocv.org
http://www.sfgate.com
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