ELECTION CRIMES PROVISION BACK IN ELECTION LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003896

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: ELECTION CRIMES PROVISION BACK IN ELECTION LAW

REF: A) BAGHDAD 3828 B) LIM/NEA EMAIL 9/18/05

Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Article 27 on election crimes reappeared
in the final version of the election law released by the
TNA legal committee September 18. The previous version,
released on September 14 by the legal committee, did not
include this provision, even though the TNA had voted on
September 12 to include it. PolOff immediately raised this
inconsistency with the staff of TNA legal committee
chairman Sadoon. Sadoon subsequently told PolOff September
18 that there had been a 'misunderstanding' in the TNA
legal committee while Sadoon was on holiday and that
article 27 would be included in the final text of the
election law. The reinclusion of Article 27 lends a useful
tool for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq
(IECI) to discourage voter fraud, intimidation against
electoral officials, and media campaign violations. End
Summary.

ELECTION CRIMES PROVISION IS BACK
--------------


2. (C) The provision on election crimes (article 27)
reappeared in the election law as released by the TNA legal
committee September 18 (Ref A). Article 27 was among the
30 articles in the law that was passed by the TNA on
September 12. When the TNA legal committee released the
first final draft on September 14, the electoral crimes
provision was missing; instead of 30 articles, the law
contained only 29 (Ref B).

A "Misunderstanding"
--------------


3. (C) A staff member to TNA legal committee chairman
Mushen Sadoon (Kurd),told PolOff on September 14 that
during that morning's TNA legal committee meeting, deputy
legal chairman Hussein Athab (Shia) insisted on deleting
article 27 from the law, arguing that TNA members had been
confused about article 27 when they voted to approve the
law September 12. The staff member noted that Sadoon was
away on holiday and therefore absent from the meeting.
PolOff expressed surprise at the odd disappearance of this
important provision, noting that he had personally
witnessed the TNA proceedings approving the law with
Article 27 included. On September 18, the staff member
informed PolOff that TNA Deputy Speaker Shahristani had
intervened September 17 to demand restoration of the
electoral crimes provision as passed originally by the TNA.
In a separate conversation, Sadoon sought to assure PolOff
that the temporary disappearance had been due to a
"misunderstanding" in the TNA legal committee.

LIST OF PUNISHABLE ELECTORAL CRIMES
--------------


4. (U) Unofficial translation of Article 27 of the election
law follows:

Begin text.

Chapter Six - The Election Crimes

Article 27
Any person committing any of the following acts shall be
punished in accordance with punishments stated in the valid
laws:

1. Voting more than once.

2. Impersonating, or using the name of another person for
the purpose of voting.

3. Nominating himself in more than one district or on more
than one list.

4. Carrying a firearm, or any other instrument, which
threatens security in any center of election on the day of
the election.

5. Entering an election or tallying centers by force to
affect the election process or to inflict harm on any of
the elections officials.

6. Affecting the freedom of the election or hampering the
election process.

7. Tampering with any of the voting boxes or election
tables or voting ballots or stealing any of these boxes,
tables or ballots or destroying them or conducting any act
with the intension of affecting the integrity of and
secrecy of the election.

8. Committing any prohibited acts stipulated in Chapter
Five of this law. (Note: This refers to media campaign
rules. End note.)

End text.


5. (C) Comment. Lawmaking in the neophyte TNA remains a
messy process. Whether or not there was a hidden agenda at
work behind Article 27's temporary disappearance from the
election law is a matter of speculation. Now back in the
law, Article 27 provides a useful tool for the IECI to
discourage voter fraud, intimidation against electoral
officials, and media campaign violations. It will be
important for upcoming elections' credibility for the IECI
to make use of it when warranted. End Comment.
Satterfield