Iraq bends election rules for Sunnis

[Barrett808]

Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The United Nations has bent voter registration rules for Sunni Muslims in Iraq in response to extremist attempts to undermine the process.

U.N. spokesman Carlos Valenzuela said the population of Anbar province, the western desert region known as the Sunni Triangle, would be allowed to register and vote on polling day, even though the rest of the country finished registering its voters weeks ago.

"They will be given the possibility of registering on the same day, which gives them the possibility of deciding where it is they will be voting," said Valenzuela. The same conditions will apply for Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, where 8,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to secure the elections.

Some Sunni leaders have vowed to boycott the Jan. 30 vote, maintaining it is too dangerous to stage the elections in the middle of an armed uprising. Shiite leaders, however, have said the vote must take place as scheduled or the situation will only deteriorate further.

The United Nations is launching a campaign this week to persuade the public the election is untainted by U.S. influence, as well as justifying why citizens should risk bombings to vote, the newspaper said.

(more)

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050103-075032-3543r.htm

[rodeodance]

1. "persuade the public the election is untainted by U.S. influence," te he

what a joke!!!

[okieinpain]

2. ok. so there will be no real way to confirm where folks are voting.

a person could hit up 2 or 3 polling places casting how many votes. will they allow one person to vote for everybody in the house also, because they are too scared to come out and vote. man this is being setup big time.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

3. Actually, there is...

It's called indelible ink. After you've voted you get some ink on your thumb that doesn't come off (at least not immediately). A lot of elections in developing nations are handled this way.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Dhalgren]

4. It can also be used as a marker

to make it easier for the insurgents to tell who has supported the American's rape of Iraq. "Hey, look, this guy voted for the American puppets! Thanks, brilliant Americans, for making it so easy to identify the Quislings!"

[ConservativeDemocrat]

5. Perhaps...

But it may very well work in the opposite way too. "Gee. Nearly everybody has a black thumb. Maybe people think we're as much assholes as the Americans are".

In fact, it's probably likely. Insurgent movements typically overestimate their support in the general public. And certainly, not all Iraqis believe that "Democracy is the enemy of Islam", as the Jihadists recently claimed.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community