RRT ERBIL: KRG ELECTIONS PROCEDURES FOR VOTING BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001926

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2019
TAGS: KDEM PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: RRT ERBIL: KRG ELECTIONS PROCEDURES FOR VOTING BY
SECURITY PERSONNEL RAISE CONCERNS FOR ELECTION DAY

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Peter Vrooman for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Summary: The Independent High Electoral Commission
(IHEC) is confident that the voting process during the
upcoming Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) elections will
be conducted with integrity. However, the special
circumstances surrounding voting by security personnel point
to possible areas of concern. Contacts have told RRT Erbil
that they are concerned that security personnel, who will
participate in Special Needs Voting administered by IHEC on
July 23, will seek to commit vote fraud. They also note that
KRG security personnel are under extremely tight party
discipline to vote as directed by their superior officers.
End Summary.


2. (C) In a recent meeting with RRTOff, IHEC Commissioner
Al-Husseini explained the measures IHEC is taking to prevent
tampering with the election results. Before the voting
begins, for example, election monitors will be able to check
to see that the ballot boxes are empty. IHEC will be
advising observers to arrive at polling stations in time to
verify this, as well as to stay to the very end until all the
votes have been counted. When the voting ends, votes will be
counted at each of the 1,149 polling stations throughout the
Kurdistan Region. Just like process during the January 2009
provincial elections, the tally sheets from each polling
station will be collected in Erbil and sent to Baghdad via
secure transport. In Baghdad, the votes will be tabulated at
the IHEC Data Entry Center (DEC) before provision results can
be announced. The ballot boxes themselves will remain in
each province, to be held at the Governorate Electoral Office
(GEO) warehouses in each KRG province and guarded by KRG
security forces.

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Special Needs Voting
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3. (C) IHEC is working to ensure voting by individuals who
belong to the uniformed services that will be providing
security on July 25: the Peshmerga, the Asayish, and the
police. Al-Hussaini said that these individuals will vote
two days earlier, on July 23, and that they will cast their
votes in polling stations designated for special needs
voting. These locations are expected to be their barracks or
workplaces because it would be inconvenient for them to go to
other designated polling places due to their schedules.
During the discussion with Commissioner Al-Hussaini and in a
subsequent meeting at the UNAMI office in Erbil attended by
representatives from several embassies, there did not appear
to be a well-developed plan in place to provide the degree of
coverage by international observers for special needs voting
similar to the degree of coverage envisioned for July 25.
(Note: In a separate conversation, KRG Interior Minister
Sinjari told RRTOff that security personnel will cast their
ballots at about 300 locations. End Note.)


4. (C) In order to prevent security personnel from being
able to vote twice, on the 23rd and again on the 25th, IHEC
has created a separate voting list for security personnel,
and is attempting to scrub these names from the list of the
general voting population. IHEC continues to work to
finalize the voter lists. Specifically, Al-Hussaini
mentioned problems such as trouble matching Kurdish with
Arabic fonts, incorrect ration card numbers, and other
erroneous information that prevent IHEC from matching the two
lists. IHEC is seeking solutions to these issues. For now,
Al-Hussaini said that the primary measure that will prevent
QAl-Hussaini said that the primary measure that will prevent
double-voting will be the ink stains on voters' fingers.

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Comment
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5. (C) RRT Erbil has been informed by former high ranking
officers of the PUK Peshmerga and Asayish that security
personnel in Sulaimaniyah have been warned that they will
lose their jobs if they do not fully support the PUK. A
number of them have already been fired for not obeying this
command. Having votes cast in barracks or workplaces,
without international observers present, could add to the
possibility of voter intimidation. Moreover, relying on
checking fingers for ink two days later as the sole measure
to prevent possible double voting by people under
extraordinary pressure to vote as directed by the two major
parties presents a possibility of double voting. RRT Erbil
and the Embassy are flagging this issue for IHEC contacts and

urging that more attention be paid to these issues in order
maximize confidence in the integrity of the election. End
Comment.
HILL