Posted on 01/13/2005 5:01:33 AM PST by gimmebackmyconstitution
January 13, 2005 THE ELECTORATE Many Iraqis to Cast Votes in U.S. By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - Bush administration officials said Wednesday that an estimated 240,000 people living in the United States will be eligible to cast ballots in the coming election in Iraq, by voting in five American cities later this month.
Citing figures compiled by the International Organization for Migration, an independent body that works closely with the United Nations, administration officials said that perhaps a million Iraqis over the age of 18 living in a total of 14 countries outside Iraq will be able to vote. An estimated 14 million people within Iraq are eligible to vote, but it is unclear how many will take part.
The officials said that final arrangements for the voting had not been worked out yet, including where potential voters will actually cast their ballots in the five American cities: Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and Nashville.
Michael Kozak, acting assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, pointed out that the Iraqi government had made the decision to let its citizens abroad vote and set conditions for who would qualify. Iraqi electoral officials announced their decision in November.
"There are peculiarities in every country's citizenship laws, and I guess I'm not out to question it here," Mr. Kozak said. "My guess is the Iraqis that really care about it are the ones that are going to vote. The ones who have abandoned their ties with Iraq and are comfortably living in the United States or another country are probably less inclined."
At the White House, two senior officials gave briefed reporters on the status of the Iraqi elections, again emphasizing that no thought is being given to delaying the election, despite calls for postponement by some Iraqi leaders from Sunni areas where the voting is likely be hampered by security problems.
Under the ground rules for the briefing, reporters could not name the officials. This is often the case when White House staff members speak on foreign policy issues. Their remarks were part of a continuing effort by the administration to discourage speculation that any delay was being considered.
The officials declined to say what level of turnout would be necessary for the election to be considered successful, or whether regional differences in turnout might undercut the legitimacy of the vote.
A senior official involved in planning for the elections said the voting would not be a "magic bullet" that would quell the insurrection there, but that the example of millions of Iraqis voting would be a major advance in Iraq's move to democracy.
At the State Department, Mr. Kozak said that among the other countries in which Iraqis would be allowed to cast ballots in the election were Iran, Syria, Jordan and several countries in Europe. He said that in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration, had supplied Iraqi election officials with records on the location of Iraqi residents "as best we can tell" so that decisions could be made on where to set up polling places. The other countries named in November were Britain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and Australia.
United Nations officials involved in the election said that they had been dubious about allowing so many Iraqis outside the country to vote. But they said that the former exiles installed in Baghdad by the American occupation insisted on such an arrangement, hoping that a large vote outside Iraq would help their chances in the election.
Boy, this subject went over like a fart in church!
There. Do you feel better now?
Thanks, feel so much better. LOL!
You're welcome, bump. Somebody respond to this guy's post. He's lonely!!
Very interesting. Thanks for posting this! :)
"He's lonely!"
I felt bad, too! I hate it when I post something and nobody responds. :)
"Citing figures compiled by the International Organization for Migration, an independent body that works closely with the United Nations, administration officials said that perhaps a million Iraqis over the age of 18 living in a total of 14 countries outside Iraq will be able to vote. An estimated 14 million people within Iraq are eligible to vote, but it is unclear how many will take part."
Just to be nice, I think we should pay for one-way tickets for the 240,000 or so "Iraqi-Americans" to vote in Baghdad in person. ;')
This appears to be just another way to pump up the Shiite Moslem fundie vote.
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