The Hindu : International : Confusion over Iraq turnout

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 01, 2005

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International

Confusion over Iraq turnout

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JAN. 31. The death toll in Iraq's controversial elections has risen to 44 amid confusion about the turnout in yesterday's poll.

At least 44 persons including nine suicide bombers were killed in a string of attacks, which targeted polling stations and rocked many towns and cities including Baghdad. Up to 15 British troops were feared killed in a plane crash on the outskirts of Baghdad, marking the largest British military loss in a single day. The militant group Ansar Al-Sunna said its fighters downed the low-flying C-130 transport plane, using an anti-tank missile.

The Iraqi Electoral Commission backtracked from its earlier claim that 72 per cent of the registered voters had cast their ballots. In a subsequent statement, it said "these figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field. It will take some time for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to release accurate figures on turnout." The Commission spokesman, Farid Ayar, indicated that around eight million people might have voted, or about 60 per cent of registered voters.

Juan Cole, a west Asia specialist, who teaches at Michigan University, questioned the figures on the voter turnout that were being circulated. "I don't think they (Iraqi authorities) really know, and would be careful of using these figures until they can be confirmed as the vote is counted," he said.

Counting under way

The Electoral Commission said that counting was now under way, but it could take 10 days to announce the final results.

With Shia groups voting in significant numbers especially in Southern Iraq, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) — a coalition of Shia parties was expected to do well in the elections. Iraq's top spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who backs the UIA, thanked voters for balloting in large numbers. He regretted that he could not vote because of his Iranian nationality. The turnout was especially high in the Shia strongholds of Najaf and Basra.

Senior United Nations election official Carlos Valenzuela acknowledged that polling was low in the Sunni dominated Central Iraq, but added that it was "better than expected. I should say though that people were expecting a very low turnout. So it is better than expected, but exactly what that means we shall have to wait and see."

Low voting

Voting figures were thought to be very low in Ramadi and Samarra. Four polling booths in the Sunni Azamiyah district of Baghdad never even opened, according to reports.

Disregarding the polling percentage figures, some analysts have questioned the legitimacy of the election. Robert Jensen from the University of Texas pointed out that "a real election cannot go on under foreign occupation in which the electoral process is managed by the occupiers who have clear preferences in the outcome."

A day after the polls, the interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, called for unity among Iraqis notwithstanding whether Sunni groups voted or not.

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