Iraqis Can Now Check Voter Registration Lists

Iraqis Can Now Check Voter Registration Lists Prepared With Help Of UN Experts

Iraqis will now be able to check if their names are properly registered on voter rolls prepared by the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq with help from United Nations electoral experts.

The six-week confirmation process, which began Monday, is a significant step towards the holding of elections planned for January, a UN spokesman said today.

There are currently eight electoral experts among the 35 UN international staff in Iraq, with plans to increase the number of electoral experts while staying within the security ceiling.

Meanwhile, the UN is "working diligently" to look into the entire security system for those 35 workers as well as assessing whether additional staff can be adequately protected in Baghdad, said Catherine Bertini, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Management, at a press briefing in New York.

Fiji has already agreed to provide protection for UN facilities and staff in Baghdad and will be deploying later this month.

Ms. Bertini confirmed that the United States has also provided very detailed descriptions of what it is able to provide for UN staff should the additional workers be sent to Iraq.

"We're still assessing that and then have to make a proposal to the Secretary-General and ultimately he has to decide how to proceed," she said.

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