BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 21, 2005
Low Turnout For Iraq Exile Vote
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An Iraqi couple leaves a voter registration station in Sydney, Australia on Saturday. Only 6,500 Iraqis in Australia have so far registered, much lower than the predicted 50,000. (AP)
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U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police secure the area following car bomb explosion in front of Shiite mosque in Baghdad. (AP)
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As of Thursday, fewer than one in 10 of the estimated 1.2 million eligible Iraqis living abroad in 14 countries had registered.
The International Organization for Migration, which is organizing the overseas vote, decided to continue registrations through Monday and Tuesday.
"The extra days will apply to each of the 74 registration centers in all 14 countries where Iraqis are able to register and vote, pending the approval of the host governments," the organization said in a statement.
"We are extending our operation in an effort to provide Iraqi voters with as much access to our centers as possible," said Peter Erben, director of the project.
In other developments:
Niurka Pineiro, spokeswoman for the Geneva-based organization organizing the Iraqi exile vote, said that "in some places" the turnout has been less than anticipated. She noted that in Australia only one in eight of the estimated eligible voters had signed up as of Thursday.
"It could be a number of things. It could be procrastination, it could be apathy, they don't have the right documents. There are many Iraqis who have been out for a long time," Pineiro said.
"It's a mixture of apathy and apprehension," said Bernie Hogan, the head of the voting effort in Australia, explaining the lack of response from Iraqis living in that country.
Despite predictions that as many as 50,000 Iraqis living in Australia could join the electoral rolls, only 6,500 have done so.
"The apathy comes from people who say nothing's going to happen, it's a sham, I'm comfortable here in Australia and I'm not going to get involved," Hogan said.
But a larger section of the community is simply suspicious of the process, he said, afraid of adding their names to a government-sponsored list they fear could be used against them.
"After decades and decades of tyranny and government abuse, they're not confident about the future of government and they're not confident about the use of registration material," he said.
The absentee voting itself will still be held over three days, Jan. 28-30, with the final day coinciding with the election day in Iraq, the agency said.
To register, Iraqis have to document their identity, Iraqi nationality and birth on or before Dec. 31, 1986. They must then return to the same location to vote.
As of Thursday, 93,847 overseas Iraqis had registered, the agency said.
The national breakdown of registrations through the first four days is 5,158 in Australia; 8,506 in Britain; 3,473 in Canada; 5,084 in Denmark; 267 in France; 6,448 in Germany; 20,805 in Iran; 5,019 in Jordan; 4,882 in the Netherlands; 10,773 in Sweden; 6,236 in Syria; 2,144 in Turkey; 6,086 in the United Arab Emirates; and 8,966 in the United States.
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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