AMMAN, 19 January 2005 — A total of 18,104 Iraqis exiles registered Monday to vote in elections in their embattled country later this month, in a slow start to a weeklong registration period, organizers said yesterday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), tasked with the out-of-country vote (OCV) by Iraq’s electoral commission, said the figures for Monday’s opening day were compiled in 36 cities across 14 countries.
The registration is taking place in Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Jordan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and United States. It runs until Jan. 23. IOM officials admitted that the turnout for the first day was low but were satisfied that the operation went according to plan and expected the pace to pick up.
“It was a light start, which is often the case for registration,” the IOM head of the Jordan-based OCV program, Peter Erben told AFP.
“We of course hope it will pick up and more Iraqis will step forward and show their interest in this election process,” said Erben.
A breakdown of the numbers provided by the IOM showed that the largest number of Iraqi exiles who registered to vote on Monday were in Iran, where 3,550 Iraqis registered, followed by the United States with 3,270.
In the United Kingdom, 1,737 Iraqi exiles registered for the historic election, followed by 1,668 in Sweden, 1,385 in Syria, 1,055 in Australia, 963 in Germany, 962 in Denmark, 903 in the Emirates, 799 in the Netherlands, 710 in Jordan, 641 in Canada and 395 in Turkey.
Only 66 Iraqis registered in France, a center for expatriates also living in neighboring Belgium, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
The Geneva-based IOM estimates that up to one million Iraqi expatriates will register to vote in the 14 countries. Iraqi exiles will be able to cast their vote from Jan. 28 to 30 to elect a transitional 275-seat national assembly tasked with drawing up a new constitution.
