VOTER REGISTRATION TO BEGIN AT LAST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002145

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/08/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ
SUBJECT: VOTER REGISTRATION TO BEGIN AT LAST

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

Summary
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1. (C) The 30-day voter registration process will start on
July 15. Potential problems include lack of accessibility
and lack of information. We have been working with UNAMI and
the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) for months
to forestall such problems. There have been concerns that
Sunni areas are under-served by voter registration centers.
IHEC has already established 15 additional registration
centers, and if problems occur during the registration
period, potential fixes include extending the voter
registration period, providing mobile registration vans, and
splitting staff from existing registrations centers to create
additional sub-centers. We see no evidence that there is a
concerted effort to prevent Sunnis from registering. We are
also working with IHEC to ensure that their public outreach
campaign is timely and effective.

Voter Registration Is Set To Begin
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2. (C) Voter registration has been announced as starting on
July 15 and will last for 30 days. Logistical preparations
are on track: voter registration center staff training is
nearing completion, and all voter registration materials have
been delivered and are in the process of being sent to the
564 voter registration centers, including the provisional
voter lists derived from the Public Distribution System (PDS,
the nationwide food ration database),the internally
displaced persons (IDP) list, and the voter registration
forms. Now the focus shifts to ensuring the success and
credibility of the registration process, and addressing
complaints about unfairness. The major issues there are
accessibility of the voter registration centers and
effectiveness of the public outreach campaign.


3. (C) In considering problems with voter registration, a key
point to remember is that this is actually an
update/verification of the voter registration list. Iraqi
citizens are automatically registered if they are on the PDS
list, as 96% of Iraqis are according to the Independent High
Electoral Commission (IHEC). If people are confident that
they,re on the PDS list, they don't have to do anything to
register. It is only if they are not on the PDS list, need
to correct their personal information, or just want to check
their listings that they must actually go to the voter
registration center. IDPs will be allowed to register in
their current location, but the question of whether they will
vote for candidates from their place of origin or place of
displacement is still unresolved (it will be defined in the
provincial elections law still under debate in the Council of
Representatives).

Accessibility of Registration Centers
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4. (C) Accessibility includes both location of the voter
registration center (i.e. comprehensive and equitable
distribution of the sites) and ensuring people's physical
security in getting there. For months, concerns have been
raised that in mixed-sect provinces like Ninewa, Baghdad, and
north Babil, Sunni populations are under-served by voter
registration centers and that there is a risk that Sunnis may
therefore be underrepresented among registered voters. The
PRTs and divisions on the ground out in the provinces have
sent in specifics about regions of concern; we passed those
to UNAMI (which has the lead in the international community's
support for elections); and UNAMI conferred with IHEC to come
up with solutions. Although IHEC subsequently established an
additional 15 voter registration sub-centers, only a few were
in areas that reports had indicated were under-served. We
are continuing to monitor the situation, and as we get
additional specific information from the field, UNAMI will
raise the problems with IHEC, which is the only body in Iraq
with the jurisdiction to enforce penalties and remedies
relating to election violations.


5. (C) As the 30-day voter registration process moves along,
IHEC is prepared to take a variety of steps -- if necessary
-- to mitigate accessibility problems: extending the voter
registration period, providing mobile registration vans, and
splitting staff from existing registration centers to create
additional sub-centers. In addition, voters can check their
registration by calling a telephone call-in center and IHEC
is attempting to set up online verification of registration,
options which can help reduce accessibility problems. We
will also be alert to any complaints about security, both in
terms of there being not enough and too much (for example,
sectarian efforts to prevent certain groups or people from
getting to the registration centers). IHEC will also follow

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up on such complaints, of course.


6. (C) Comment: We do not believe that there is a concerted
effort to cut the Sunnis out of the voter registration
process; rather it is an unintended result of a number of
factors. Some under-representation may be a result of the
large-scale displacement after the February 2006 Samarra
mosque bombing that created Sunni-Shia segregation in many
areas. Thus centers that once served multiple neighborhoods
of different sects are now located in segregated areas. Some
Sunni areas may have ended up with fewer registration centers
because non-participants in the PDS are likely to be wealthy
Sunnis, and so areas with large concentrations of that
population might not have been captured by a registration
center distribution based on the PDS. We also have to
remember that this voter registration exercise will involve
much "learning as you go" for IHEC. UNAMI has already told
us that the process barely meets international standards, but
they understand the imperative to get registration done in a
timely fashion, imperfect though it may be. The lessons
learned from provincial elections in 2008 will be put to good
use in the lead-up to national elections in 2009. Naturally,
we are continuing to be alert to accusations of bias and the
like, but so far we have not seen any evidence that there is
an explicit effort to keep Sunnis off the electoral rolls.
End comment.

Public Outreach
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7. (C) The IHEC campaign to inform Iraqi citizens of the
voter registration update exercise was always planned to
begin ten days before registration starts. IHEC did indeed
begin publicizing registration on July 5 and held a major
press conference on July 7 to really kick off the process.
We have had continuing concerns about IHEC's ability to
produce and disseminate material (flyers, posters,
billboards, TV and radio spots) quickly enough to reach
significant numbers of voters. Over the past few months we
have worked closely with UNAMI to make sure that IHEC is on
track.


8. (C) Both UNAMI and IFES (the implementer through which
USAID funds its considerable technical support to IHEC) have
media advisors imbedded in IHEC's media department, and we
provided printing facilities, at IHEC's request, to print an
initial 500,000 flyers and paid for a scrolling text
information campaign on television. We have also been
working with the PRTs to come up with ways we can help the
Iraqis create a multiplier effect in distributing materials
and getting the word out. For example, the PRTs are working
with local NGOs and civic groups to help them find ways to
take IHEC-provided material such as information pamphlets and
reproduce and distribute them. This includes coming up with
QRF funding proposals to support such efforts.
CROCKER