ELECTION PREPARATIONS APPEAR ON TRACK - SPECIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004932

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2015
TAGS: PNAT PGOV PTER KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: ELECTION PREPARATIONS APPEAR ON TRACK - SPECIAL
VOTING TO BEGIN DECEMBER 12

Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Robert Ford for
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. With days to go until the
December 15 election and despite the absence of several
IECI Commissioners on Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) travel,
preparations for domestic election preparations are
well on track. Special voting for detainee, hospital,
and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) voters is expected to
occur on December 12 as planned. Ballot materials,
staff, and security are in place to support this early
voting, and are on schedule for general voting on
December 15. Of particular note has been the surge in
IECI media events educating the public about voting.
END SUMMARY.

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SPECIAL VOTING COMING SOON
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2. (SBU) Special voting for ISF, detainees, and
hospitalized voters will take place on December 12.
The IECI estimates that over 250,000 voters will be
accorded the opportunity to vote at 257 special
polling locations. Of these, IECI estimates that over
200,000 are ISF voters, approximately 22,000 are
eligible detainee voters, and over 19,000 hospitalized
voters. These voters will use the national ballot,
which lists over 200 political entities and is three
pages long. Although the IECI's publicity office has
developed special voting posters and pamphlets to
illustrate how to use this 3-page national ballot, it
is conceivable that confusion could still occur. ISF
voters also have the opportunity to forgo voting on
December 12 in favor of voting in their home
governorate on December 15.

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LOGISTICS ON TRACK
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3. (C) On December 7, CEO Adil Allami told PolOff that
ballot delivery was on schedule, security logistics
were in place, and training for polling day staff
would begin on December 8. Allami added that planning
for Anbar was firming up, with a planned 154 polling
centers and 800 guest workers (flown in to Anbar by
the IECI) to supplement local staff. Later that
evening, PolOff spoke briefly with UN/IECI operational
planner Jodie Clark who confirmed that logistical
preparations for the elections were well underway and
proceeding as planned. Delivery of polling station
kits to governorate warehouses are expected to be
completed on December 10 and ready for distribution to
polling centers on December 13 as planned. She told
PolOff that the biggest logistical hurdle had been
moving up preparations for the special voting
materials and logistics, but that preparations for
December 12 were complete.


4. (C) Over the past few days, CEO Allami, the
International Elections Assistance Team (IEAT),and
IECI press conferences have given PolOffs an overall
picture of the election preparation status. Specific
topics are listed below.

-MATERIAL SECURITY: The IEAT reports that AEGIS
warehouse security teams have deployed to governorates
in preparation for the arrival of polling materials.
Iraqi Army units are supplementing security oversight
during the delivery of the ballots until Iraqi Police
are fully in place. To date, ballot material
deliveries have been made to Dahuk, Salahadin, Ninewa,
Baghdad East, Baghdad West, Muthanna, and Qadissiya.

-OBSERVERS: The IECI has decided to extend the
accreditation deadline to December 10. It has
accredited over 182,000 political entity agents and
81,000 observers across 18 governorates to date.
Domestic and international observers will also be
present at Camp Abu Ghraib, Bucca, and Susse detention
facilities.

-CANDIDATE LISTS: The IECI has published the certified
candidate lists on its website. In a December 4 press
release, the IECI tempered this release by stating
that reserves the right to disqualify candidates in
the future if need be.

-STAFF: Polling day staff have been hired and
allocated to each polling station. Training for
governorate and district level staff has been
completed, with polling center staff training on-
going. On December 5, CEO Allami confirmed to PolOff
that the IECI would be switching inspectors from
different governorates in order to diminish the
possibility of attempted fraud.



5. (SBU) The IECI has been conducting a wide array of
media events ranging from press conferences, outreach
events with political entities, and TV and newspaper
interviews. CEO Allami, Commissioner Hindawi, and
Commissioner Sidqi have given press interviews almost
daily over the past week on topics ranging from De-
ba'athification to voting procedures. On December 8,
the IECI held an outreach session in its tally center
for political party representatives serving as
monitors during the elections. Chief Electoral
Officer Adil Allami, who headed this briefing, told
PolOff later that day that the event was heavily
attended, and discussions ranged from the complaints
procedures to compensatory seats.


6. (U) In a December 8 press conference, Commissioner
Safwat Sidqi briefed the media on general election day
information. In addition to giving a general overview
of elections preparations, Sidqi urged political
entities and the public to discourage campaign
violence and general unfair campaign practices such as
the tearing down of posters. The IECI expects to
continue conducting press interviews daily as well as
distributing multiple press releases, many of which
will discourage campaign violence and intimidation.

KHALILZAD