Iraqi lawmakers want to be able to cast their votes anonymously

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http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/July/middleeast_July324.xml§ion=middleeast

Iraqi lawmakers irked by manipulated manual voting (Reuters)

14 July 2011

BAGHDAD - Many lawmakers are calling on Iraq’s parliament to start using electronic voting, arguing that the current system conducted by a show of hands allows leaders of political blocs to manipulate the results.

The parliament building, located in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, was equipped with an electronic voting system in its legislative chamber about three years ago. It has been tested successfully but never used for a vote.

With the Iraqi government on the verge of critical decisions like the possible extension of the US troop presence in Iraq beyond a Dec. 31 deadline, more legislators are demanding that parliament give them a little privacy in their voting. snip

Many leaders do not trust the loyalty of their lawmakers, particularly on certain issues, officials said. The decision on whether US forces remain beyond year-end is one.

‘I say most of the blocs and lawmakers support the extension behind closed doors, but publicly they say something different,’ lawmaker Kadhim Al Shimari said. ‘They are afraid of the voters’.

[Incitatus]

1. So they want to vote against their constituents wishes without them knowing?

Is that democracy?