Iraqi Panel Finds Voter Registration `Violations'

[Barrett808]

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq's Electoral Commission said it found ``violations'' in voter registrations while investigating an unexpected surge in the number of people requesting ballots in Kirkuk, just days before the parliamentary election.

Kirkuk's polling stations had an average 45 percent increase in registrations, compared with an average 8.19 percent across Iraq, the Independent Electoral Commission said in a statement e-mailed from the capital, Baghdad, late yesterday.

The panel didn't say whether such ``abnormal patterns'' were discovered throughout the oil-rich northern province or only in its capital, both called Kirkuk. The violations included many forms that were filled out incorrectly, lacked a signature or had more than one signature, the commission said. In some cases, the same name appeared on several forms, the panel said.

The National Assembly election on Dec. 15 will decide the composition of the parliament for the next four years, giving Iraq its first permanent government since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. About 7,000 candidates representing Shiites, Kurds -- and Sunnis, who boycotted the January poll for a temporary parliament -- are vying for 275 assembly seats.

(more)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aWmpfxqPS2KE&refer=top_world_news

[Maggie_May]

1. Sounds and looks like our Democracy