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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Iraqi Euro expats start registering for polls | |
| 2005-01-19 | |
Iraqi expatriates in 14 countries, including Germany, on Monday began registering to vote in their homeland's 30 January elections with the process going on "smoothly", an official in Jordan said. Registration offices were set up in the capital Berlin as well as in Munich, Cologne and Mannheim, with the Iraqis having until 23 January to register, said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Berlin. As well as Germany, about one million Iraqi expatriates may be eligible to vote in Jordan, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Iran, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, Britain, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, a spokeman said. "We are coordinating closely with authorities in the 14 countries and we are receiving adequate security and administrative facilities for doing our job," she added. She pointed out that 75 polling centres had been set up in 36 cities throughout the world, including 12 in Jordan.
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| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #4 Not quite on topic, but...Nashville has a fairly large Kurdish population. They are assembling in a park and being bused to the polling station with police escort. I'm not convinced massing them all together in buses is the smartest thing to do, but at least security has been considered. |
| Posted by: Psycho Hillbilly 2005-01-19 10:37:00 AM |
| #3 Id be careful about going to check out the polling stations. Security is going to be very (appropriately) tight - I dont think they want people hanging around to wish good luck - for obvious reasons. Though they'll be lots of local press, I imagine. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2005-01-19 9:54:43 AM |
| #2 Upon actually reading the article I discover that they expect only about 1 million expat voters to register. Nonetheless, with over 200 slates of candidates to choose from, the Iraqi vote will be badly splintered, and the expat vote may well make the difference. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-01-19 6:12:22 AM |
| #1 This should have a moderating influence on the vote count. Most of the Iraqi expats escaped Saddam Hussein's fascist regime on the one hand, and have been living in democratic, rule-of-law societies on the other. They aren't likely to vote for either religious or tribal candidates, but rather whomever they believe will be best for the whole country -- especially as they won't be living with the result themselves. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-01-19 6:09:18 AM |