Questioning election results, Sunni parties demand re-vote

Sunni political parties are demanding an opportunity to recast ballots after the disqualification of 227 ballot boxes on Monday due to alleged fraud in the 15 December parliamentary elections. “If we add up the numbers of problems, occurrences of fraud and small errors during the election procedures, we find a very intense and huge problem,” said Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of the Iraqi Accord Front. “For this reason, the final results will surely be unfair.” Al-Dulaimi’s party, therefore, along with the al-Nahrayn National List and the National Congress Coalition, has requested a re-vote at all polling stations where votes were “cancelled” or complaints recorded. Of the 227 annulled ballot boxes, 167 were from the capital, Baghdad, 18 from the Nineveh governorate, 17 from Arbil in northern Iraq and 8 from the Anbar governorate, which is largely populated by the Sunni Arab minority. The votes inside the disqualified ballot boxes are believed to be fraudulent, but their origin has yet to be identified, said Hussein Hindawi, spokesperson for the Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq (IECI). In an ongoing investigation, ten people have been arrested and formally questioned about suspected participation in the fraud. Two of them are to be formally charged. In all, 1,985 complaints were lodged to the IECI in various areas of Iraq after the December elections. Hindawi, however, played down allegations of fraud. “The level of fraud was very small and will not affect the final results of the election,” he said. “For this reason, the cancellation should not be taken as an important action by the IECI.” According to Hindawi, 58 complaints were studied by the IECI. Of these, only 29 were found to be “serious,” but not serious enough to affect final results. The United Nations and the US government have both registered their opposition to the notion of a re-vote, saying that the elections were fair. A total of 32,000 polling stations were open on election day. However, votes from 55 of these were disqualified because the number of votes cast was almost double the number of registered voters, according to Hindawi. Preliminary results are expected to be released on 20 or 21 January. Final results may take an additional two weeks, however, due to technical problems, said Hindawi. Initial indications are that a majority of seats in the 275-seat national assembly will go to the governing United Iraqi Alliance, representing the Shi'ite Muslim majority, which is likely to form a coalition government with Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties.