Iraqis in two troubled provinces to be allowed to register, cast ballots

BREAKING NEWS
INTERNATIONAL POSTED AT 1:55 PM EST Saturday, Jan 15, 2005

Iraqis in two troubled provinces to be allowed to register, cast ballots

Associated Press


Baghdad — Iraqi authorities said Saturday they were considering new measures to protect voters on the Jan. 30 national election as fresh clashes broke out in a troubled northern city and gunmen roamed the streets of a rebel bastion west of the capital.

...

In Baghdad, three mortar shells exploded Saturday near the heavily guarded Green Zone, causing no casualties but sending American and Iraqi officials scurrying for cover. It marked the third straight day of rebel attacks on the Green Zone, the nerve centre of the U.S. and Iraqi administration, after a lull of a couple of weeks.

In the Abu Ghraib area west of the city, a roadside bomb ripped through a U.S. convoy Saturday, destroying a truck, Abu Ghraib police Leut. Akram al-Zubaie said. There were no reports of casualties.

...

Iraqis in two of the country's most troubled provinces — Anbar and Ninevah — will be permitted to register and vote on election day, the head of Iraq's electoral commission said Saturday.

...

Meanwhile, a local government building in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi was hit Saturday by rocket-propelled grenades, and groups of armed men were seen roaming the streets of the city about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

In Qaim on the Syrian border, gunmen Saturday kidnapped Iraqi army Lt.-Col. Abdul-Razzak al-Salmani as he was driving in the city centre. His family was left unharmed.


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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050115.wiraq0115/BNStory/International

That would seem like a common sense thing to make availible to voters.

Probably over there also, but it seems to be a tedious process:


Iraqis in U.S. prepare to cast ballots for homeland

By NOREEN O'DONNELL
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: January 15, 2005)

When Dr. Mahdi Abdullah lived in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, there were no free elections. So with Iraqis scheduled to go to the polls at the end of the month, the Mount Vernon doctor is determined to participate — even if it means two trips to Washington in the coming weeks.

The District of Columbia is one of five cities in the United States where Iraqi expatriates can vote, and the one closest to New York. But it requires appearing there next week to register, and again at the end of the month to vote.


http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/011505/a01p15iraqivote.html

We can't even guarentee everyone's right to vote in the USA!!

Get our voting rights straightened out and then maybe I'll start being impressed by the Iraqi vote propoganda!

We certainly don't pretend that everyone can vote.