Iraq: Feb ‘09

A senior official in Iraq’s election commission has said that it will review its procedures after studying an IWPR report highlighting claims of voting irregularities in the recent provincial elections.

Following the February ballot, IWPR Iraq-trained journalists spent several weeks gathering reports of alleged violations, including ballot boxes going missing and family members casting votes for absent relatives. The findings were highlighted in the story Iraq Fraud Claims Prolong Poll Feud.

The election was Iraq’s first since 2005, and was considered a test not only of the country’s democracy but also of its electoral system. Iraq will hold at least three other polls this year, including two parliamentary elections and a referendum on whether American troops should remain in Iraq.

Hamza al-Kafi, the legal advisor for the Independent High Electoral Commission, which oversaw the recent poll, said the body will re-evaluate its procedures beginning as early as March and will “pay attention in the upcoming elections to the points made in this [IWPR] report”.

He praised the report for raising the public’s awareness about democracy and the electoral process.

“I like the idea that after reading this report, we, the IHEC, will fix our weak points,” he said. “This will benefit the voters.”

Kafi said the commission may propose amendments to election-related legislation. It is already considering improving the voter registration system, issuing voter identification cards and other reforms, he said.

IHEC maintained shortly after the election that voting irregularities were not widespread and the number of serious ones was small. None of the violations changed the outcome in any of the 14 provinces where polls were held, the commission said.

But IWPR reported that some political parties were threatening to challenge the results in court.

Abdullah Jafar, a retired political science professor, told IWPR, “I wish I could make each IHEC official and employee read this [IWPR] report to understand the errors, so that they are aware of the scale of the crisis which they created, whether deliberately or not.

"If I was an IHEC official I would definitely be able to avoid many mistakes in the next elections after reading this report."

Jafar said IWPR’s story was the first that he had read which provided a detailed analysis of voting irregularities.

“I haven’t read a report yet that discusses this,” he said. “I think it’s a very important and critical issue”.

Mohammad Karim, a Baghdad-based journalist, also indicated he wanted to see action taken.

“After I read this story I am waiting to see the United Nations reports on Iraq’s provincial elections," Karim said.

Karim praised the report for its neutrality, asserting that “it was not biased neither to IHEC not to voters or political entities".