 | BBC style scare quotes mine. |
GAZA CITY, 22 January 2006 — Thousands of Palestinian security forces started to vote yesterday morning in the legislative elections ahead of the scheduled date of Jan. 25. The forces will be free to protect the voting process on the day of the civilian voting.
The early voting reflected the tense security situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which have been plagued by election-related chaos and other lawlessness in recent months. Security forces will take up positions at polling stations during Wednesday’s election to ensure order. The special voting for some 59,000 security personnel, running through tomorrow, was meant to give the forces time to prepare for the deployment.
| And to make sure everyone else knows how to vote. |
“Today is the beginning of the democratic process which we are very proud of,” said Palestinian Preventive Security Chief Rashid Abu Shbak, who voted in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp. “Everything is moving in a smooth and quiet way and we hope the next two days will occur in the same atmosphere and that Jan. 25 will be a national celebration for Palestinian democracy,” he said.
Turnout was heavy yesterday, with more than 40 percent of eligible voters casting ballots, officials said. There were no reports of violence. Security forces, some in civilian clothes and others wearing berets and olive-green uniforms, waited patiently to vote at polling stations throughout Gaza and the West Bank. In the West Bank city of Nablus, hundreds of officers lined up to vote. The stations were heavily guarded, and voters had to present identification and surrender their weapons to cast their ballots.
| So if the security forces were voting, who was providing security? |
To prevent fraud, forces guarding the stations were barred from voting areas, and voters marked their fingers with special ink to prevent double voting. Observers from local human rights groups monitored the voting.
Outside the station, a small group of Hamas activists wearing the group’s trademark green ski masks baseball caps and bandannas greeted voters. There were no Fatah activists in sight.
| "Hi, howya doin', vote for me, that's Mahmoud, Hamas Party, or we'll kill you ... hi, howya doin', remember to vote or die ..." |
Hanna Nasser, head of the Palestinian election commission, said commanders were instructed to let their troops vote in peace. “We have made it clear that there should be no such actions,” he said, adding that safeguards are in place to ensure privacy in the polling booth. “You have the full freedom...to vote for whomever you want to vote,” he said.
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