Iraqis accept constitution
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Iraqi voters have accepted the draft constitution, the Independent Electoral Commission announced Tuesday. 78% voted in favor, 21% against. Two, mostly Sunni, provinces rejected the constitution with a two-thirds majority; three rejections by provinces by two-thirds majorities would have caused the constitution to fail.
Voters in the provinces of Anbar and Salahuddin overwhelmingly opposed the draft, casting 97% and 82% "No" respectively. The deciding swing-province in the referendum was Nineveh. While 55% of the voters in the predominately Sunni province opposed the constitution, that was below the 66% threshold necessary to bring the draft to a halt.
Electoral Commission official Farid Ayar called the vote "100% correct" and said that there were "no cases of fraud that could affect the results of the vote".
But the Sunni official Saleh al-Mutlaq said the referendum was a "farce" and accused the government of stealing ballot boxes in areas where most people voted "No".
Observers from the United Nations dispute that statement. A senior official, Carina Perelli, said the result is "accurate" and that it was checked by her organisation.
The voting turnout was 9.85 million votes, or 63% of eligible voters. This was one million more votes than cast in the interim government election held in January.
Parliamentary elections are now scheduled for December 15, 2005.
Other election news
- "Sunni leader says Iraq vote was a "farce"" — Wikinews, October 25, 2005
Previous related news
- "Iraqi vote remains in doubt" — Wikinews, October 23, 2005
- "Iraq ballots to be audited due to voting "anomalies"" — Wikinews, October 18, 2005
- "Iraq counting ballots" — Wikinews, October 17, 2005
Sources
- "Irakische Verfassung ist angenommen" — Der Spiegel, October 25, 2005
- "Iraq voters back new constitution" — BBC News, October 25, 2005
- "Draft Constitution Adopted by Iraqi Voters" — Associated Press, October 25, 2005
- Nancy A. Youssef. "Iraqis approve new constitution in a split vote" — Knight Ridder, October 25, 2005
- Edward Wong. "Final Tally Shows Iraqi Voters Approved New Constitution" — New York Times, October 25, 2005