5,000 eligible Iraqi voters cast their ballots in Dubai

DUBAI — Election officials confirmed that around 5,000 eligible Iraqi voters cast their ballots in Dubai on Friday, that figure comes to almost half the total number that registered to vote in Dubai as part of the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) Programme. Although no exact figures were available as to how many came to vote yesterday, they were far fewer than on the weekend.

By A Staff Reporter

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Published: Sun 30 Jan 2005, 1:43 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 3:43 PM

The IOM is conducting an OCV Programme on behalf of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI). The IECI is the exclusive electoral authority for the Iraqi elections.

“When I look at the ink on my finger, I see it as a mark of freedom,” stated Kassim Abood, one of the very first Iraqis to cast their vote in Sydney, Australia. In just 67 days, Iraq OCV has recruited, trained and deployed 7,000 staff members, almost 90 per cent of whom are Iraqi. Seventy five Polling Centres are open across 14 countries ready to receive Iraqi voters. Reports from the 36 OCV cities indicate a steady flow of voters in all locations.

“Out of an estimated 1.2 million potential voters, 280,303 registered. This is approximately one in four eligible Iraqis in the 14 countries, which is a significantly higher Diaspora participation than in most other democracies. In many countries, around one in ten citizens choose to take part in overseas voting,” said Iraq OCV Director, Peter Erben.

He added: “The OCV Program could not have predicted exactly how many people would take this opportunity when planning the operation. Therefore it was appropriate that we planned to accommodate a high level of participation on the part of the Iraqi Diaspora. As a democratic exercise, we had to ensure that all potentially eligible voters would have the opportunity to register and vote.”

Polling in the out-of-country ballot continues until 30 January, coinciding with Election Day in Iraq.


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