CANADA: IRAQ OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING COMMENCES

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000289

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI KDEM IZ CA
SUBJECT: CANADA: IRAQ OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING COMMENCES

REF: A. CALGARY 21


B. OTTAWA 222

C. TORONTO 140


1. Canada is one of 14 countries designated by the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) to host
polling sites for Iraqi citizens to participate in the
January 30th election of a transitional National Assembly.
As the 3-day window (January 28-30) for out-of-country voting
opens at five locations in Canada (1 each in Ottawa and
Calgary, 3 in Toronto),10,957 Iraq citizens had registered
to vote in this country, as reported in IOM's website.


2. Sheena Thomson, who heads IOM's Toronto office, advised
Toronto poloff that approximately 45-50 percent of eligible
Iraqi citizens in Canada had registered to vote, countering
news reports that only 25 percent of Iraqis living in Canada
had registered. However, this was significantly lower than
the roughly 80 percent turnout that IOM officials had been
forecasting for Canada. Similarly, IOM officials in Ottawa
advised Ottawa poloff that the number of Iraqis citizens
living in the Montreal area who traveled to Ottawa to
register was lower than what IOM had been anticipating.


3. In explaining the lower-than-anticipated turnout, Thomson
indicated in press interviews that poor weather in the
Toronto area (home to most of the Iraqi expatriate population
in Canada) might have suppressed the participation rate in
the Iraqi community. In addition, Iraqi citizens living in
the Windsor area were expected to register and vote in
Detroit, which might have lowered the overall registration
rate in Canada.


4. COMMENT. IOM's decision to add an additional two days
(January 24-25) to the original 7-day registration period
(January 17-23) in each of the 14 countries seemed to have
relatively little impact in Canada, based on an analysis of
the day-by-day registration figures provided by IOM. In
particular, the daily volume of registration recorded in
Ottawa during the supplemental period was significantly lower
than the daily volume counts in the original registration
period; Calgary and Toronto likewise had lower daily volume
of registrations, compared to the original period, albeit at
less significant drop-offs. Nevertheless, IOM officials in
all three cities told poloffs that the registration process
went smoothly, and they anticipate that no particular
problems will occur during the polling period. END COMMENT.


5. Baghdad minimize considered.

Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa

DICKSON