Jordan Times
Monday, March 15, 2010
25,000 Iraqis voted in
Amman-hosted polls - IHEC
By Taylor Luck
AMMAN - Around 25,000 Iraqis voted in their country’s parliamentary elections
from Jordan earlier this month, according to official figures.
According to preliminary figures from the Iraqi Independent High Electoral
Commission (IHEC), 272,016 Iraqis living abroad participated in the elections in
16 countries.
Approximately 24,717 voted from Jordan, down from 32,000 in 2005, according to
the commission. Jordan saw the fourth highest number of Iraqi votes cast abroad,
trailing Syria (42,965), Sweden (36,931) and the United States (27,754), IHEC
reported.
The final number of votes from Jordan may be even lower after deductions for
those who voted in the wrong governorate, voted twice or did not fill out their
ballots correctly, IHEC officials told The Jordan Times yesterday.
Voters are currently being cross-checked against central databases in Iraq to
root out any voter fraud, they added.
The final results have not yet been released, as IHEC continues tallying votes
in Baghdad, officials indicated. Official countrywide election results and
breakdowns by governorate cannot be released until tallies are completed and
official complaints resolved, a process that could take up to a few weeks.
Allegations were made during the polls of widespread vote buying and regarding
the motives of monitors representing political parties, neither of which could
be independently verified.
Approximately 113 polling stations opened in 16 centres from March 5-7, each
polling station designed to accommodate 1,200-1,500 voters over the three-day
period, IHEC said.
Around 300 monitors representing NGOs and various embassies and 900 representing
various political parties and coalitions in Iraq monitored polling stations and
procedures.
There are between 150,000-180,000 Iraqis of voting age residing in Jordan,
according to estimates from IHEC and the Iraqi embassy in Amman.