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Rauf Naqishbendi's
family was gassed by Saddam Hussein, but the Iraqi
Kurd and Pacifica resident does not plan to vote in
the upcoming elections to replace the deposed
dictator.
"You cannot glue things that don't stick,"
Naqishbendi said of uniting Iraq's various religious
and ethnic groups into a nation.
In San Bruno, 22-year old Iraqi-American Kathwar
Kasim, who has never lived in Iraq, plans to drive
seven hours with her parents just to cast a ballot
in the election. She thinks it's the least she can
do.
"I think it's important to vote," Kasim said. "Even
though Iraqis are allowed to vote, many are afraid.
Since I am in a country that is safe, I feel I
should vote."
Iraq's first election is stirring hope and
frustration among local Iraqi-Americans, many of
whom are eligible to cast ballots. They are
conflicted about whether the vote will signal a
rebirth for the troubled nation or open the door to
further chaos.
Regardless of the outcome, it's a rare political
moment that would have been unthinkable two years
ago. And Kasim's father, Adel Kasim, said that
aspect — simply holding the election — is what's
most important.
"Regardless of who you vote for, it does kick the
country on the road to democracy," said Kasim, who
grew up in Baghdad. "I really think the bordering
countries are afraid of that process. Once the wheel
gets turning there will be serious geopolitical
implications for the Middle East."
Kasim is a Shiite Muslim, which make up the majority
of Iraq's population. Saddam Hussein, who was a
Sunni Muslim, repressed the larger Shiite
population. The Shiites are expected to gain the
most political power from the upcoming Iraqi
elections.
Bakheiar Zuhdi, an Iraqi Kurd from Almaden Valley,
was much more pessimistic about the election. He,
like Naqishbendi, believes not much will change for
Iraq's long suffering Kurdish minority, which was
also brutally repressed by Saddam Hussein.
"I think they are totally disillusioned," Zuhdi said
of the Iraqi Kurds. "They don't believe whoever
comes to power will meet the demands of the Kurds."
Both Zuhdi and Naqishbendi dream of an independent
Kurdistan. They believe Iraq should be divided into
three separate nations along its major ethnic and
religious fault lines: one for Kurds, one for Sunnis
and one for Shiites.
It's not just the political considerations that are
complicating the election for local Iraqis. The
logistics make the recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003
look like a small- town election. In addition to the
25 million Iraqis that can vote, there are millions
of expatriates in 14 countries, including 240,000 in
the United States, that are also eligible to cast
ballots. So far, more than 6,800 here have
registered for the vote, according to the U.S.
Branch of the Iraq Out of Country Voting Program (IOCVP).
Iraqi-Americans are eligible to vote if they are
Iraqi citizens, entitled to reclaim Iraqi
citizenship or their father is an Iraqi citizen. All
voters must be at least 18 years old.
Expatriate Iraqis are only able to vote for
representatives in the Transitional National
Assembly, which will write Iraq's constitution and
elect an Iraqi president. Iraqis will be casting
votes for political parties, not individual
candidates.
The process has drawn criticism because there is
only one location on the West Coast local Iraqis can
register to vote — Los Angeles. The registration
period runs until Sunday. Registered voters will
have to return to Los Angeles at the end of January
to vote.
"You could probably say there are a good 50,000
Iraqis in Northern California and everyone has to go
to Los Angeles twice to vote," said Naqishbendi. "It
just doesn't make sense."
June Chua, an external relations officer with IOCVP,
said the organization realizes the arrangement is
not ideal, but it was the best that could be
arranged given the short amount of time available to
plan the election. She said that Iraqi officials
initially planned to have just one polling place in
the United States, but the IOCVP was able to
increase that to five cities where there are
concentrations of Iraqi-Americans: Los Angeles,
Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Nashville.
Chua said Iraqi-Americans from Modesto are renting a
bus to get to the polling site in Los Angeles, while
a group of Florida Iraqi-Americans are busing from
Florida to Nashville.
"In fact, we find most voters quite enthusiastic
about it all," Chua said. "In Detroit, (voters)
clapped before voting and clapped after."
Adel Kasim is taking a long view of the hassles of
voting in the United States and the violence
currently convulsing Iraq. He said a democratic Iraq
is worth the price.
"Even with the loses and sabotage, it's a fraction
of what the previous regime has inflicted on the
people," Kasim said. "No matter what, it's all worth
it."
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