Iraqis accept constitution

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Iraqi voters have accepted the draft constitution, the Independent Electoral Commission announced Tuesday. 78% voted in favor, 21% against. Two, mostly Sunni, provinces rejected the constitution with a two-thirds majority; three rejections by provinces by two-thirds majorities would have caused the constitution to fail.

Voters in the provinces of Anbar and Salahuddin overwhelmingly opposed the draft, casting 97% and 82% "No" respectively. The deciding swing-province in the referendum was Nineveh. While 55% of the voters in the predominately Sunni province opposed the constitution, that was below the 66% threshold necessary to bring the draft to a halt.

Electoral Commission official Farid Ayar called the vote "100% correct" and said that there were "no cases of fraud that could affect the results of the vote".

But the Sunni official Saleh al-Mutlaq said the referendum was a "farce" and accused the government of stealing ballot boxes in areas where most people voted "No".

Observers from the United Nations dispute that statement. A senior official, Carina Perelli, said the result is "accurate" and that it was checked by her organisation.

The voting turnout was 9.85 million votes, or 63% of eligible voters. This was one million more votes than cast in the interim government election held in January.

Parliamentary elections are now scheduled for December 15, 2005.

Other election news

"Sunni leader says Iraq vote was a "farce"" — Wikinews, October 25, 2005

Previous related news

"Iraqi vote remains in doubt" — Wikinews, October 23, 2005

"Iraq ballots to be audited due to voting "anomalies"" — Wikinews, October 18, 2005

"Iraq counting ballots" — Wikinews, October 17, 2005

Sources

"Irakische Verfassung ist angenommen" — Der Spiegel, October 25, 2005

"Iraq voters back new constitution" — BBC News, October 25, 2005

"Draft Constitution Adopted by Iraqi Voters" — Associated Press, October 25, 2005

Nancy A. Youssef. "Iraqis approve new constitution in a split vote" — Knight Ridder, October 25, 2005

Edward Wong. "Final Tally Shows Iraqi Voters Approved New Constitution" — New York Times, October 25, 2005

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