Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAGHDAD3029
2008-09-21 11:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

NINEWA: GEO PREDICTS HIGH TURNOUT FOR PROVINCIAL

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7730
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3029/01 2651156
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 211156Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9509
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003029 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA: GEO PREDICTS HIGH TURNOUT FOR PROVINCIAL
ELECTIONS AS REGISTRATION PROCESS CONCLUDES

Classified By: Ninewa PRT Leader Alex Laskaris, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003029

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA: GEO PREDICTS HIGH TURNOUT FOR PROVINCIAL
ELECTIONS AS REGISTRATION PROCESS CONCLUDES

Classified By: Ninewa PRT Leader Alex Laskaris, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message.


1. (C) Summary: The GOI,s chief elections officer in Ninewa
Province is optimistic that Sunni Arab participation in
provincial elections will be high. GEO Director Adel-Haleq
Dabbagh based his optimism on local conversations he has had
with Sunni leaders and the more than half million Ninewa
citizens who participated in the voter registration update
process. Dabbagh also noted his disappointment with the
number of IDPs who registered and said he intends to seek
additional time for IDPs. Finally, Dabbagh said that he is
ready to present his plan to administer provincial elections
to the Iraq High Elections Commission (IHEC). End Summary.

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GEO EXPECTS HIGH TURNOUT IN PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
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2. (C) Ninewa PRT met with GEO Dabbagh on September 13 to
discuss his views on final registration numbers, his plan for
running the elections in Ninewa, and the overall mood of the
public regarding the elections. In general, Dabbagh was
upbeat about the prospects for high voter turnout for
elections this year. Dabbagh said that Sunni Arabs across
the province tell him that elections are a must and that
boycotting provincial elections in 2005 was a mistake.
Dabbagh said there is a minority, maybe 20 percent, who
believe that provincial elections are only a U.S.-sponsored
game that will not change anything.

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FINAL NUMBERS FROM REGISTRATION PROCESS
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3. (C) Dabbagh said that 573,000 Ninewa voters participated
in the registration process by confirming the accuracy or
correcting errors in their registration details. That number
represents nearly one third of the 1.5 million eligible
voters in Ninewa. Dabbagh said that approximately one in 25
of the 573,000 noted an error in their registration
information. (Note: In Iraq, most voters are automatically
registered if they hold a Public Distribution Systems (PDS)
card. However, if, on voting day, the voter,s information
(e.g. full name or address) does not match what is on the
voters roll, the citizen will not be allowed to vote.
Therefore, the voter registry update was designed to allow an
opportunity for citizens to check their registration
information and update if necessary.)

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LOW IDP REGISTRATION REMAINS A PROBLEM
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4. (C) Dabbagh noted two outstanding issues, one major and
one minor. First, Dabbagh said he was not entirely satisfied
with the number of IDPs who participated in the registration
process. According to Dabbagh, people who have been
displaced since August 2007 present a problem because they
have not yet been registered. (Note: Citizens displaced
before August 2007 are accounted for and are registered,
according to Dabbagh.) Dabbagh said that he would propose to
the IHEC an extension of the registration deadline for IDPs.
Second, Dabbah alleged that Peshmerga at Kurdish checkpoints
have "harassed" shipments of registration materials intended
for parts of Ninewa under de facto Kurdish control by
blocking them temporarily and searching them. Dabbagh did
not claim the searches of elections related material were
different in kind from other searches conducted at security
checkpoints and does not consider them a major hindrance to
the registration process.

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GEO TO PRESENT HIS ELECTION PLAN TO IHEC
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5. (C) Dabbagh also said that he has finished identifying 632
locations that will serve as voting centers. Those centers
will house 3,822 polling stations. According to Dabbagh, the
voting centers will have three levels of security with the IP
manning the inner ring and the IA guarding the outer two
rings looking for VBIEDs and SVESTs. Dabbagh said he is
ready to present his plan to the IHEC in Baghdad.


6. (C) Comment: We have found Dabbagh to be a competent
technocrat, one who has worked well with both the Iraqi
Security Forces and the coalition. While we cannot vouch for
his skills as a political analyst, our emerging sense is that
there is broad Sunni support for participation in the

BAGHDAD 00003029 002 OF 002


electoral process. End comment
CROCKER