LoungeMachine
10-18-2005, 12:58 PM
U.S. Iraq election results under scrutiny
Officials conduct random ballot recounts for all provinces
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Posted: 1346 GMT (2146 HKT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi election officials are conducting random ballot recounts from Saturday's constitutional referendum because there were particularly high numbers of "yes" or "no" votes in most of Iraq's 18 provinces.
The development is delaying the disclosure of preliminary election results.
Such recounts will be performed for every province, said Abdul al-Hussein al-Hindawi, chairman of the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission.
Al-Hindawi said Tuesday that in at least 10 provinces, the total number of votes exceeded 95 percent.
Nine provinces dominated by Kurds or Shiite Arabs recorded "yes" votes higher than 95 percent, and in Anbar, a Sunni-dominated province, the total number of "no" votes exceeded the same percentage.
Al-Hindawi would identify only five of the provinces -- Anbar in western Iraq, Irbil and Duhuk in the Kurdish north, and Basra and Muthanna in the Shiite south.
Shiites and Kurds have largely backed the constitution, while Sunni Arabs have expressed opposition to the document.
"Because of these high numbers and in order to be transparent, we are conducting a random ballot recount for all provinces," al-Hindawi said.
"This random recount is being done in Baghdad. There is no charge of fraud; this is only an additional effort at total transparency and accuracy."
On Monday, the commission issued a statement on the tabulation process, saying it "is progressing well, and in accordance with the plan put in place with the assistance of the United Nations."
The provincial counts are important because if two-thirds or more of the votes in three or more provinces turn out to be "no," the referendum will fail.
Not all provinces recorded extremely high results.
Tameem province, an ethnically mixed and tense region that includes the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, recorded 340,000 "yes" and 204,000 "no" votes, according to an Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission source.
Two Marines killed in firefight
Two U.S. Marines died in a firefight with insurgents in the western Iraqi city of Rutba, a U.S. military spokesman said.
Four insurgents also died in Monday's fighting.
The Marines were members of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.
Rutba is about 220 miles (354 kilometers) west of Baghdad, near the Jordanian border.
Since the start of the war, 1,981 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.
In other violence, gunmen opened fire Tuesday on a car in eastern Baghdad, killing Ayid Abdulghani Yusif, an adviser to Iraq's industry minister, police said.
In Muqdadiya, northeast of Baquba, gunmen killed a police lieutenant Tuesday outside his house in a drive-by shooting.
Other developments
The much-anticipated trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Saddam, who has been in custody since December 2003, will answer to crimes against humanity charges in connection with the massacre of scores of people in Dujail, a small town north of Baghdad. (Full story)
Police said two guards working for a Diyala television station were abducted Tuesday near a fuel station in Buhriz, south of Baquba.
A policeman was wounded Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his patrol in western Baghdad. An Iraqi soldier and two civilians were wounded in a bombing targeting an army convoy on Baghdad's Haifa Street.
CNN's Arwa Damon, Enes Dulami and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Officials conduct random ballot recounts for all provinces
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Posted: 1346 GMT (2146 HKT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi election officials are conducting random ballot recounts from Saturday's constitutional referendum because there were particularly high numbers of "yes" or "no" votes in most of Iraq's 18 provinces.
The development is delaying the disclosure of preliminary election results.
Such recounts will be performed for every province, said Abdul al-Hussein al-Hindawi, chairman of the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission.
Al-Hindawi said Tuesday that in at least 10 provinces, the total number of votes exceeded 95 percent.
Nine provinces dominated by Kurds or Shiite Arabs recorded "yes" votes higher than 95 percent, and in Anbar, a Sunni-dominated province, the total number of "no" votes exceeded the same percentage.
Al-Hindawi would identify only five of the provinces -- Anbar in western Iraq, Irbil and Duhuk in the Kurdish north, and Basra and Muthanna in the Shiite south.
Shiites and Kurds have largely backed the constitution, while Sunni Arabs have expressed opposition to the document.
"Because of these high numbers and in order to be transparent, we are conducting a random ballot recount for all provinces," al-Hindawi said.
"This random recount is being done in Baghdad. There is no charge of fraud; this is only an additional effort at total transparency and accuracy."
On Monday, the commission issued a statement on the tabulation process, saying it "is progressing well, and in accordance with the plan put in place with the assistance of the United Nations."
The provincial counts are important because if two-thirds or more of the votes in three or more provinces turn out to be "no," the referendum will fail.
Not all provinces recorded extremely high results.
Tameem province, an ethnically mixed and tense region that includes the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, recorded 340,000 "yes" and 204,000 "no" votes, according to an Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission source.
Two Marines killed in firefight
Two U.S. Marines died in a firefight with insurgents in the western Iraqi city of Rutba, a U.S. military spokesman said.
Four insurgents also died in Monday's fighting.
The Marines were members of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.
Rutba is about 220 miles (354 kilometers) west of Baghdad, near the Jordanian border.
Since the start of the war, 1,981 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.
In other violence, gunmen opened fire Tuesday on a car in eastern Baghdad, killing Ayid Abdulghani Yusif, an adviser to Iraq's industry minister, police said.
In Muqdadiya, northeast of Baquba, gunmen killed a police lieutenant Tuesday outside his house in a drive-by shooting.
Other developments
The much-anticipated trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Saddam, who has been in custody since December 2003, will answer to crimes against humanity charges in connection with the massacre of scores of people in Dujail, a small town north of Baghdad. (Full story)
Police said two guards working for a Diyala television station were abducted Tuesday near a fuel station in Buhriz, south of Baquba.
A policeman was wounded Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his patrol in western Baghdad. An Iraqi soldier and two civilians were wounded in a bombing targeting an army convoy on Baghdad's Haifa Street.
CNN's Arwa Damon, Enes Dulami and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.