|
BAGHDAD, Iraq
(CNN) - Results from December's parliamentary
elections in Iraq are expected to be released
Friday, on the heels of an international report
containing a mixed verdict on voting in the country.
The Iraqi Electoral Commission plans to announce the
tabulation of final results of the December 15
election. The results will be final totals, but not
yet officially certified.
On Thursday, international monitors issued a report
confirming complaints of fraud and other election
violations in Iraq's voting, but also praising the
effort in light of the violent conditions there.
High voter turnout in last year's elections "would
do credit to democracies in more settled parts of
the world," according to the final report of the
International Mission for Iraqi Elections.
The group, charged with assessing the post-electoral
process, said that election participants were "more
broadly representative of the Iraqi nation than in
previous elections."
In the December 15 election, more than 11 million
people cast votes for a 275-member Council of
Representatives.
"In a country where at the moment few, if any,
governmental institutions can operate with
consistent efficiency and effectiveness in all areas
of the country, the IECI [Independent Electoral
Commission of Iraq] succeeded in giving the vast
majority of Iraqis an opportunity to vote. That, in
itself, is an accomplishment," the assessment team
said.
That three elections took place last year "in the
midst of widespread violence" is "remarkable," the
team noted.
Nonetheless, about 2,000 complaints alleging
electoral violations were submitted, according to
the International Mission for Iraqi Elections, and
violations led the Independent Electoral Commission
of Iraq to void the vote in 227 out of about 30,000
polling stations -- less than 1 percent of the
total.
Complaints include "ballot box stuffing and theft;
tally sheet tampering; intimidation; violence; voter
list deficiencies; shortages of ballots; multiple
voting; improper conduct of the police and Iraqi
National Guard; voting by security forces who had
previously voted on the special voting day;
campaigning within polling centers; and
nonobservance of the silent day."
"Many of the complaints deemed most serious by the
IECI were properly investigated and judiciously
resolved," the international team's report said.
But the group noted that the electoral commission
lacked the "technical and human resources" to
investigate and resolve all the complaints
thoroughly. "As a result, a large number of
complaints could not be treated with requisite
rigor," the group said.
Although 800 international observers were recruited,
"the absence of a more extensive international
observer presence put a special burden" on the more
than 120,000 domestic observers "who had hoped for
international support," the group said.
"The result of this election confirmed to the team
that there is an urgent need ... for a formation of
a government of true national unity," the group
concluded.
CNN
Top |
® 