Iraq Voting Going Smoothly, Large Turnout

Hate to say, "I told you so," but...


A.D. in Basra for Pajamas Media

BREAKING AT 6:45am Pacific, by Mohammed of Iraq The Model for Pajamas Media:
Mr. A’adil al-Lami, a chief official in the IECI announced a few minutes ago that voting time will be extended for another hour (till 6 pm) in every polling center where there are many people still standing in lines when the original closing time of 5 pm was reached. Mr. Lami confirmed that there have been some major violations in Kirkuk but most of them taken care of and corrected. No official figures on turnout till now but it is believed to be higher than that of January.
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The residents of Basra rushed to the polling centers in great numbers from the early hours of the morning in spite of the thick fog that engulfed the city.We were waiting at the gate of center #932 from 6:30 and it took us a long time to get inside because of the strict security checks. The gate opened exactly at 7 and we were let in but we have learned that there were only certain centers where journalists were allowed to enter.Anyway, the voting process is going on quietly and without complications and we noticed that the station was filled with representatives from various political parties observing the process and watching for any possible violations.There was also strong presence for people from civil society organizations who monitored the procedures of sealing the boxes and recorded the serial numbers of the seals and stamps.Dr. Mohammed Qasim, the manager of the center expects the turnout to be even higher in the afternoon and he highlighted the skills and good training of the officials working with him.I have talked to a number of the voters who were glad to find the polling centers operate in a high level of organization and transparency.The security forces are doing a fine job securing the areas around the 300 polling centers in Basra and there are no reports on incidents of interference with the voting and until now there are no reports on any terror attacks or electoral violations in Basra.One can feel the good security situation when he sees people walking in masses down the streets flying Iraqi flags and chanting for democracy in Iraq.

UPDATED at 6:40AM Pacific:

More and more people are going to the polling centers and the turnout levels have exceeded 84% in some centers. For example in the center that lies in al-Khaleej district, as of 3 pm more than 2650 voters did vote out of 3190 registered total voters for this particular center. The overall turnout is estimated at around 75% in the province.The process is taking place in a democratic and peaceful environment and there are apparently no pressures from political parties on the voters.It has been noticed that some people who live far away from their designated voting centers had a problem in reaching those centers so they asked the officials in the local IECI office to allow them to vote in other near centers; they got no positive response until now because of the strict regulations of the IECI that do not allow people to vote in any place other than the ones they’re originally registered at.
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