Cablegate: Iraq Elections Ocv: Voter Turnout Up On Day Two In

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

141818Z Dec 05

UNCLAS AMMAN 009668

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV IZ JO
SUBJECT: IRAQ ELECTIONS OCV: VOTER TURNOUT UP ON DAY TWO IN
JORDAN

Ref: A) AMMAN 9630 B) AMMAN 9513

INCREASED VOTER TURNOUT
-----------------------

1. (SBU) Voter turnout increased noticeably on December 14,
the second of three days of Iraqi election Out-of-Country
Voting (OCV) in Jordan. Amman-based Independent Election
Commission of Iraq (IECI) OCV chief Hamdia al-Husseini told
Emboff at 4:00PM that voter turnout is running about fifty
percent above that on day one (reported Ref A), which
concluded with over 7,000 votes cast.

2. (SBU) Embassy Amman election observer teams visited 11
of the 13 OCV polling sites in Jordan December 14, and
confirmed the apparent modest turnout increase. Embassy
observers found polling operations proceeding smoothly,
professionally, and without incident, in an overall
atmosphere that was generally business-like. Embassy teams
again noted the presence at polling stations of other
observers, some from the UN, human rights NGOs, the
International Mission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE), and many
Iraqi political parties.

POSSIBLE MINOR IRREGULARITIES AT SOME OCV SITES
--------------------------------------------- --

3. (SBU) Embassy observers reported seeing the arrival and
departure of mini-vans festooned with political posters
featuring Iyad Allawi, Saleh Mutlak, and Tariq Hashemi in
the vicinity of several Amman polling sites. According to
some Iraqi election staff, the vans were transporting would-
be voters to the polls. While not illicit by itself, one
Iraqi journalist working for the Manchester Guardian told
Embassy observers that he had "infiltrated" one such group,
which he claimed consisted of paid voters. He did not
provide any further information, and Embassy is unaware of
other information substantiating this allegation.

4. (SBU) At a second site, Embassy observers overheard one
voter complaining to IECI staff that two men were standing
outside the entrance to the polling center taking down the
names of entering voters. Embassy observers were unable to
confirm this claim. At a third site, Embassy observers
witnessed a large group of men apparently attempting to vote
twice. They were caught, as some still had vestiges of
purple ink showing, and others had put some cream on their
fingers to repel the ink. The group was not permitted to
vote, and left the site.

APPARENT VOTER CONFUSION
------------------------

5. (SBU) One IECI site manager told Embassy observers that
several voters at his site said that they wanted to vote for
a specific person or group (e.g., "the Shi'ites"), but could
not find it on the ballot. The manager predicted semi-
seriously that a large number of small parties may be the
unintended beneficiaries of such voter confusion, contending
that some frustrated voters ultimately marked their ballots
at random.

Hale

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