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Confusion
surrounds
Iraq
poll
turnout
Confusion
surrounds turnout
statistics
in
Iraq's
election,
with
the
country's
election
commission
backtracking
on
a
statement
that
72%
had
voted
and top
politicians
insisting
the
turnout
was
high.
The
commission
said
its
initial
tally
had
been
little
more
than
a
guess
based
on
local
estimates. "Turnout
figures
recently
announced
represent
the
enormous
and
understandable
enthusiasm
felt
in
the
field
on
this
historic
day,"
a
commission
statement
said. "However,
these
figures
are
only
very
rough,
word-of-mouth
estimates
gathered
informally
from
the
field. It
will
take
some
time
for
the
Independent
Electoral
Commission
of
Iraq
to
release
accurate
figures
on
turnout." Commission
spokesman
Farid
Ayar
indicated
that
around
eight
million
people
may
have
voted,
or
about
60%
of
registered
voters.
That
would
still
be
more
than
many
had
expected. Conflicting
claims A
high
turnout,
especially
in
Sunni
areas,
would
enhance
the
legitimacy
of
a
275-member
parliament,
which
will
choose
Iraq's
leaders
and
write
a
new
constitution. It
could
also
help
deflect
criticism
from
Sunni
Muslim
groups
that
boycotted
the
polls. Iraq's
Election
Commission
said Leading
candidates
said
reports
from
their
monitors
across
the
country
showed
more
than
two-thirds
of
registered
Iraqis
voted,
despite
bombings
and
attacks
by
fighters
opposed
to
the
presence
of
foreign
troops
in
Iraq. Planning
Minister
Mahdi
al-Hafidh
said
monitors
for
his
secular
Independent
Democrats
list
had
noted
a
high
turnout
early
in
the
day. "Our
monitors
observed
a
72%
turnout.
Iraqis
are
looking
at
these
elections
as
an
issue
of
dignity,"
he
said. Chalabi confident Ahmad
Chalabi,
leader
of
the
Iraqi
National
Congress,
which
is
part
of
the
main
Shia
electoral
slate,
said
he
was
confident
that
nine
million
Iraqis
had
voted,
with
turnout
significant
even
in
Sunni
areas. He
said
United
Iraqi
Alliance
monitors
estimated
turnout
exceeding
50%
in
Salah
al-din
province,
the
mostly
Sunni home
region
of
ousted
president
Saddam
Hussein.
"The
lack
of
preparations
in
the
north
is
hurting Turnout
has
been
also
overwhelming
in
Iraqi
Kurdistan, Foreign
Minister
Hushiyar
Zibari,
who
is
a
Kurd,
said. "The
turnout
in
Kurdistan
is
huge,"
he
told
Al-Arabiya
television.
"There
is
a
rush
for
the
Kurdish
people
to
guarantee
their
representation
in
the
National
Assembly." 'Dress
rehearsal' Mishan
al-Jibury,
a
Sunni
candidate
from
Mosul,
said
lower
turnout
in
the
Sunni
areas
was
due
to
lack
of
security
and
functioning
polling
stations
as
well
as
calls
for
a
boycott
from
Sunni
groups
hostile
to
the
US
military
presence. "The
lack
of
preparations
in
the
north
is
hurting
my
party,"
Jibury
said,
adding
that
he
hoped
flaws
in
the
process
would
not
repeat
themselves
in
Iraq's
next
vote
- an
October
referendum
on
the
constitution
to
be
drafted
by
the
assembly.
The
turnout
in
Kurdish
areas
is Speaking
to
Aljazeera
from
the northern
city
of
Mosul,
Mustafa
Ibrahim,
an
independent
Iraqi
journalist,
said
the
turnout
in
Mosul
had
been
"fair"
despite
some
problems. "There
was
a
fair
attendance
compared
to
the
expectations
of
many
in
the
city. "In
general,
the
election
held
in
Mosul
was
a
surprise
to
all
as
the
number
of
voters
was
more
than
expected when
considering
the daily
messages
and posters
threatening
voters
with
death if they went
to
polling
stations,"
Ibrahim added. Empty
centres By
contrast,
heavily
fortified
polling
centres
were
deserted
and
streets
empty
as
Iraqis
in
the
Sunni
Muslim
city
of
Samarra
stayed
home
on
Sunday,
too
frightened
or
angry
to
vote
in
the
election. "Nobody
came.
People
were
too
afraid,"
Mudhafar
Zaki,
in
charge
of
a
polling
centre
in
Samarra,
said. According
to
preliminary
figures
provided
by
a
joint
US
and
Iraqi
taskforce
that
safeguarded
the
vote,
fewer
than
1400
people
cast
ballots
in
the
city
of
200,000. The
figure
includes
votes
from
soldiers
and
police,
most
of
whom
were
recruited
from
the
Shia
south.
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