Iraq Election Weekend
by David Mac Dougall, Baghdad Bureau
The votes are cast and being counted, after Saturday’s ballot to elect regional council representatives in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Thanks to very tight security from Iraqi forces, the whole day passed off without major incident. Polls stayed open an extra hour to ensure that anyone who wanted to cast their ballots could actually do so. A vehicle ban in major cities was lifted early.
I went out with a crew yesterday to a polling station in a neighborhood close to where we live. Streets were empty except for a lot of kids playing soccer – taking advantage of the traffic-free roads to kick around a ball. Lots of families walked to the polling station, searched by Iraqi commandos as they went inside to vote.
Today, some numbers are in for voter turnout. There are some bright spots, but overall turnout wasn’t as high as many people were predicting or expecting (Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki boldly stated the turnout would be 70-80% but it wasn’t anywhere near that high).
The Iraqi Election Commission says overall, turnout was just 51% countrywide (down from 55% in the last election four years ago).
The good news is that in mostly Sunni provinces like Anbar (40%) and Salah ad Din (65%) voters cast their ballots in some numbers. This is a marked improvement from the previous election where many Sunni parties boycotted the vote and voters stayed away due to intimidation, ongoing violence and often times simple apathy in the face of what they perceived was an overwhelming Shiia majority. In Anbar Province for example, at the last election, only something like 2% turned out on polling day.
The disappointing number for me comes in the capital Baghdad, where it looks like only 40% of voters bothered to cast a ballot. I would have expected a higher number, but maybe people weren’t energized by the campaign. Who knows.
In terms of winners and losers, official results aren’t expected for a few days but some trends are becoming clear. Prime Minister Maliki’s party seems to have strengthened its position. His main Shiia rivals are heading for second or third place in some key cities, especially in the south. His main secular / Sunni rivals are also trailing. But again – we’re waiting for final results before calling the big cities & individual provinces one way or the other.
