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20 October 2005

The Iraqi Election: Democratic Voting or Fraud?

The early results of the Iraqi election have been called into question, as some areas have reported extraordinarily high turnout. Among the concerns regarding the legitimacy of the outcome is the almost universal approval of the constitution in some areas, specifically those provinces that are inhabited predominantly by the Shiite and Kurdish people. One explanation for the abnormally high approval rate, offered by the planning minister Mr. Salih, is that the Iraqi people voted based on instructions given to them by their political and religious leaders. Americans have criticized the voters involved for failing to cast “individual� votes, and the leaders for circumventing the new democratic process. Yet the practice of a leader instructing members of his organization how to vote is not uncommon to American democracy. Following the 2004 general election, allegations of fraud were brought against a church in the state of Oregon, which holds all mail ballot elections. It is claimed that some 1100 members of the church met, having brought their mail ballots with them, and filled their ballots out together, casting votes as their pastor instructed them. This activity was alleged as fraud and likened to ballot-stuffing by some observers, but in actuality is perfectly legal. How a voter chooses to cast their ballot, including what information sources they use, is entirely their choice, and access to those sources is protected by law. As long as those who participated were all legally registered voters, casting only their own ballots, and they attended the church meeting of their own will, free from coercion, no fraud was committed. The behavior of Iraqi voters, if it occurred in the same fashion, is likewise the right of those voters.

Posted by Sarah Sled at October 20, 2005 10:07 PM

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