Monday, December 19, 2005

''Ah, Mr. Bush ... About That Landmark Iraqi Election''

"Suspected polling violations on voting day last week far exceeded the number in Iraq's first election in January, local and international monitors said yesterday. On the deadline for filing complaints, the number of alleged violations which could swing results in the 275-seat parliament was "well into double figures", an accredited international election observer, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

Secular Arab parties have accused the Shia religious bloc, which dominates the current government, of intimidating voters in Baghdad and many southern cities. At the Sharqia high school in central Baghdad, which was used as a polling station, a senior election official was said to have asked voters if they were going to vote for 555. Unless they said yes, they were not given ballot papers.

A source close to Mr Allawi's campaign said that in one Baghdad polling station "around 600 men, some with walkie-talkies and purple ink on their fingers showing they had already voted, forced their way in. When the manager tried to stop them asking for ballot papers, they threatened to put him in a car boot and drive him away ... He let them in."-from the Guardian (UK) via Kos. The "boot" is what we call the "trunk" in the USA.

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