IRAQ OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING GOES SMOOTHLY IN JORDAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000713 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM ASEC PREL PGOV IZ JO SUBJECT: IRAQ OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING GOES SMOOTHLY IN JORDAN REF: A. AMMAN 672 ¶B. AMMAN 586 ¶C. AMMAN 468 ¶D. AMMAN 342 ¶E. AMMAN 293 ¶1. Out-of-country voting (OCV) in Jordan for the Iraq elections concluded on schedule at 1700 January 30. Official figures on total turnout will not be available until January 31 at the earliest. However, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organizers reported that 79 percent of those registered had voted by the end of the second day of polling January 29; we estimate January 30 voting will put the final turnout figure at about 90 percent of the 20,000 Iraqis registered in Jordan. ¶2. Emboffs and FSNs visited eight of the fifteen polling centers in Jordan, and were struck by the good-humored atmosphere at all of them. There were no security incidents. We heard of only three attempts at fraud, each involving Iraqis who were caught attempting to vote a second time despite the inking of their fingers. Concrete expressions of happiness and pride were evident: we witnessed many working class voters (including some assisted illiterates) beaming as they cast their ballots in one poor neighborhood; a voting supervisor at another location told us that the entire room was in tears after the first voter deposited her ballot on Friday morning. Embassy observers were impressed by the professionalism of the IOM organizers and their staff. ¶3. The ethnic and religious makeup of those voting appeared mixed; although the majority of Iraqis in Jordan are probably Shia, we noted large numbers of Sunni Arab and Christian voters as well, and most poll workers we talked to (all Iraqis) believed the turnout was balanced. In addition to Iraqis resident in Jordan, several interlocutors told us about relatives or friends who had come to Jordan from Baghdad or elsewhere in Iraq in order to register and vote in "safe" Jordan. We also met some Iraqi-Israeli voters who told us that they had used their Israeli passports as part of the OCV registration process, without incident. Iraqi Observer Comments -------------- ¶4. Political party observers from the so-called Allawi and Sistani lists were present at several of the polling stations. An observer for Allawi's list (which had observers at most stations), stressed to us that he was a supporter of an "independent" on the Allawi list, rather than Allawi or his party per se. He and a circle around him agreed that, as almost all candidates really had the same goals -- security, stability, and prosperity -- most Iraqis feel it's safer to vote through a party list for a varied grouping of people who might restrain each other than for a single individual who might prove to be a loose cannon. ¶5. There was extensive international media coverage of the OCV process in Jordan. Apart from Arabic-language networks including al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya, CNN, Japanese, British, and other television media were present near the voting centers. We also noted the presence of NDI and EU observers. Iraqi Police School Voting -------------- ¶6. In addition to the fourteen OCV polling centers established for civilian Iraqis in Jordan, a fifteenth station was set up outside Amman at the Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC), a State/INL program that trains cadets for the new Iraqi security forces. These voters were registered under a special regime, and IOM does not treat them as a part of the 20,000 OCV voters registered in Jordan. As of the afternoon of Sunday, January 30, over 3,000 of a possible voting pool of about 3,100 Iraqi police cadets had voted. As at the other polling stations, the voting process at the police school was professional, efficient, and good-spirited. Despite the turnout, poll workers told us that more than half of the cadets voting on the first day expressed confusion as to what the election was about and what the different parties represented. However, there less confusion on the successive two days, perhaps reflecting some ad hoc voter self-education. ¶7. Ballot boxes are being sealed and removed under guard to a central location in Amman, where vote counting in the presence of outside observers will begin at 0800 Monday, January 31. An Embassy Amman observer will be present. ¶8. Baghdad minimize considered. HALE