The Guardian is now posting 60% turnout in Iraq. How low will it go?

[spanone]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1401985,00.html

<snip> With polls closed in Iraq, election officials today claimed a 60% turnout on a day that had left at least 33 would-be voters dead.
Baghdad bore the brunt of a series of attacks, with a rapid succession of eight suicide bombings claiming 13 lives in queues for the ballot boxes. <snip>

[paineinthearse]

1. 60% of what?

1. 60% of all eligable voters or 60% registered voters.

2. that 60% number is familiar. in the 11/04 election, 60% of all eligable US voters exercised their right.

[gristy]

2. Pretty sure it's of registered voters

[Blue_State_Elitist]

3. Pull out the limbo bar mates...

[EVDebs]

4. 60% turnout... that's great compared to the US

2004 election had 60% voter turnout, with 40% not voting (or votes not counted), 30% for Bush, 29% for Kerry.

Maybe we should have mandatory voting in US elections...they do in Australia.

[aquart]

5. How many wounded at the ballot boxes?

How severe are the injuries?

[hector459]

6. We will never know. But it will be reported at over 50% no matter what.

Things get back to normal in a few days as soon as the "lock-down" is over.

[jazzjunkysue]

7. 1500 US soldiers dead, thousands hurt, 2 billion $$ and world hatred for

8 mill iraqis to stuff a paper in a box that they mostly don't know how to read, who it represents, and if it will be counted honestly.

They're simply voting by tribal lines, which we could have estimated peacefully in a day. We could have established the parliament along those lines and started to leave by now, if we wanted to.

In the meantime, we've dessimated our own economy and military for an agenda that changes every month or so.

Please don't forget that, according to Richard Clark, head of terrorism advisors to B***, B*** decided to invade Iraq on 9/12, because his masculinity was trashed by three airplanes.

This is about US colonization of oil rich countries. Period. Don't think for one moment that we would have staged this "election" unless we knew the majority party would play along as a puppet government for the US. If the so-called leaders can't even put their names on the ballots, how on earth will they hold office and live long enough to establish any kind of government, let alone a democracy?

You can't bomb the 12th century and expect it to become Pittsburgh. If we had actually wanted democracy, we'd have done what we did to far east asia: Infiltrated one TV at a time. We'd have let our consummerist culture overtake the youth and sold them lots of american goods at a good price.

This was never about creating democracy, so, nothing was accomplished today, except the next Karl Rove propaganda move. They trumped up all the fear factor scare tactics to hide the fact that nothing will be chosen today. And, whoever tries to hold power will still have to do it at the point of a gun. This crap cannot be defended or sustained. It's a total fabrication.

[Ms. Clio]

12. Uh, most Iraqis know how to read--they are not primitive barbarians

Before the first Gulf war, Iraq had the largest middle class in the Mid East and a high number of college-educated men and women.

They are also not voting along "tribal lines." They may be voting along sectarian lines, particularly after the Bushistas have done everything they could to deepen those divisions.

However, I think you're completely right that it was never about creating democracy.

[jazzjunkysue]

15. you jumped to a conclusion that I meant Iraqis are illiterate. Wrong.

The ballots are ridiculous and confusing, especially when they've never voted before, and the candidates were hidden until recently. It's all a shell game.

It's also been established that they knew nothing of the policies of the parties: Only the parties that their families identify with.

It's a total sham.

[Ms. Clio]

16. "stuff a paper in a box that they mostly don't know how to read"

Sorry, but I don't think it's "jumping to a conclusion" to read that sentence as stating that Iaqis are illiterate.

And the Iraqis have voted before, this is not a completely new process to them.

But I really don't want to quibble with you, because it damn sure is a sham.

[Still_Loves_John]

17. I think he meant that

They don't know how to decipher the sheet. They can read in general, just not the voting form.

[Ms. Clio]

20. Yes, but how does the sentence strike a person upon the initial reading?

But I think it's all straightened out now, thanks.

[MissB]

8. Better question: and please answer it if you can

How many polling centers? How many polling booths?

In the run-up to this election, the media reported that there would be around 5000 polling centers. The media (CNN, specifically) is reporting 30,000 polling centers (or 30,000 polling booths, depending on the story you read). All under the watchful eyes of US and Iraqi soldiers.

Someone in one of the LBN threads did a breakdown of the math. There were only 10 hours, and assuming 30,000 polling booths, each voter (given the 70% turnout) would get a mere 2 minutes per ballot. The numbers don't work, especially with hundreds of names on some ballots.

It does get better (for the administration) if you accept the 30,000 polling centers number (and assume several polling booths per center). But then you get mangled up in the whole "under the watchful eye of US and Iraqi troops". If you assume 30,000 polling centers (yeah, right), then there would only be like 5 US troops per center (yeah, right).

It is an interesting reporting of the numbers.

I'm still looking for a definitive number - can anyone help me? To be somewhat clear, I'm not looking for a turnout number, I'm looking for a definitive number on the number of polling centers. Or polling booths.

Their numbers are stinkin'.

[spanone]

9. I don't think anybody knows.

and honestly, we can't get the voting process quite right here in the US, how can we even dream of getting any kind of 'correct' numbers out of Iraq?

[MissB]

10. That's just it

It isn't plausible to claim (as CNN is) that there were 30,000 polling centers under the watchful eyes of US and Iraqi troops.

There aren't enough US *or* Iraqi soldiers to cover that many.

So why is CNN reporting it?

[geomon666]

11. Here's some more facts for those numbers

Iraqis show mixed response to polls


"Polling stations in several towns in Iraq have not opened five hours after nationwide voting started on Sunday, the country's electoral commission said.

Despite a heavy US military force Fallujans are not likely to vote

"In Latifiya, Mahmudiya and Yusufiya, polling stations have not yet opened their doors," commission spokesman Farid Ayar told reporters.

"As you know, Latifiya, Mahmudiya and Yusufiya are hotspots. We have allowed residents of these areas to vote in the nearest polling station" to the towns, said another member of the commission.

In war-ravaged Falluja, nearly all residents stayed at home despite the presence of five polling stations. Only one man was reported to have voted.

Meanwhile, the head of the local council in Samarra said no citizens would vote because of the poor security situation.

"Nobody will vote in Samarra because of the security situation," said Taha Husain, the head of Samarra's local governing council.

No employees turned up at polling centres in Samarra and police were not to be seen on the streets, an agency correspondent reported.

[Ms. Clio]

13. Pretty soon someone will be along to tell you

that al-Jaz is the Fox News of the Middle East.

(I'm not one of those people)

[leesa]

14. 60% of registered voters...after the voter fraud in this country why would

we believe anything they say?? How many times were US soldiers allowed to vote? How about all those unrecorded dead Iraqis?

[Taxloss]

18. It's 60% of registered voters.

IE not that many.

[SoCalDem]

19. Limbo Party.... The Official Song-Dance of the Iraqi Election

How Lowwwwwww will they go????