VZCZCXRO4527
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0183/01 0251331
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251331Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1373
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000183 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PINR IZ
SUBJECT: DHI QAR ELECTIONS UPDATE: PREPARATIONS AND 
CORRUPTION RUMORS 
 
This is a PRT Dhi Qar reporting cable. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The PRT met with Governorate Electoral 
Office (GEO) leadership on January 21 and found preparations 
for elections satisfactory.  Voter outreach efforts continue 
throughout the province.  Rumors of potential malfeasance 
abound but according to the GEO no serious infractions have 
been brought to their attention.  The GEO welcomed the 
activities of the PRT observer missions and promised 
continued cooperation and coordination.  End summary. 
 
GEO Preparations 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Although the pace of preparations has accelerated, 
and the GEO found itself working through the night on 
occasion, the mood in the office appeared optimistic and 
relaxed.  Shipment of sensitive materials such as ballots, 
voter rolls, and ink had been delayed due to unavailabilty of 
trucks, causing an immediate headache.  GEO staff were 
confident that the shipment will be moved by road to 
Nasiriyah from Basra in a matter of days, well in advance of 
election day.  The GEO expected to begin shortly the third 
stage of its training plan for elections officials, which 
will focus on polling station managers. 
 
Voter Education and Early Voting 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) GEO Director Alaa Abid Aould did not respond 
directly to the question of whether voters were clear on how 
to vote, but cited instead the voter education outreach 
activities conducted under GEO auspices and the activities 
funded and administered by the PRT and local NGOs.  He noted 
that, for purposes of January 28 early voting, 17 special 
polling centers will be open for hospital employees, police, 
army, and others to cast ballots.  Prisoners sentenced to 
terms of less than five years who are being held in 
institutions with at least 400 voters may also cast ballots. 
Prisoners charged but awaiting trial will not be able to 
vote.  These early ballots will be sealed and stored, and 
will not be opened until the January 31 vote count.  Alaa 
projected that preliminary results would be released in two 
days and definitive results would be reported eight days 
after the election. 
 
Playing by the Rules 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Alaa reported small-scale disciplinary measures 
taken against candidates, pointing to the pasting of posters 
over those of other candidates as a typical ground for 
discipline.  The GEO recently warned approximately 74 
candidates to correct such violations within 72 hours or face 
fines.  (Local press erroneously reported 75 parties fined 
for campaign violations, a figure exceeding the actual number 
of registered entities.)  He assured the PRT that his office 
reviewed daily election-related complaints and updated 
Baghdad with daily reports.  In most instances, the GEO acted 
to verify or disprove complaints through site visits. 
 
Popular Rumors of Malfeasance 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Contacts in the press circulated spicier rumors of 
underhanded tactics by local politicians to secure an edge 
among the voters -- accounts that the GEO maintains are 
unfounded.  The allegations included an ISCI vote-buying 
campaign, with votes going for 6000 Iraqi Dinars; a scheme by 
partisan election workers to spoil certain ballots by making 
additional markings on them; a scheme by traditional leaders 
to replace poll workers in their district with a picked slate 
to monitor votes or alter ballots; and deals between 
traditional leaders and candidates to deliver a specific 
number of votes.  A media contact who claimed first-hand 
knowledge told the PRT that local officials were using 
government resources to campaign, but added that he would not 
Qgovernment resources to campaign, but added that he would not 
publish the allegations out of concern for his personal 
safety.  Another media contact noted that some candidates 
were attempting to woo voters with free meals.  In one 
instance, the bid backfired when guests became irritated with 
a local candidate, a businessman, who arrived hours late for 
his own lunch and failed to speak, much less justify his 
candidacy, to the prospective constituents. 
 
Big Three and the Independents 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Media contacts observed that the election is marked 
by a wave of political unknowns and local professionals who 
have established "vanity" political entities who are 
 
BAGHDAD 00000183  002 OF 002 
 
 
attempting to benefit from widespread disillusionment with 
provincial government performance.  While some made an 
initial splash, media and other contacts have complained that 
most of these candidates are simply faces on a poster, with 
no track record of service or policy positions.  Most have 
declined to interact with the press on the grounds that the 
press is already in the pockets of particular candidates and 
parties.  Interestingly, media contacts estimate that six to 
eight Sadrist candidates, who would not be able to win on the 
main Sadrist lists due to the Jaysh al-Mahdi's record of 
violence, have established one-candidate parties and will 
reveal themselves if they are elected.  Despite the crop of 
newcomers, press contacts and the GEO believe that power will 
remain with the three major parties in the province: ISCI, 
Da'wa, and Fadhilah. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Many of the rumors of potential malfeasance can be 
attributed to the standard gossip that occurs prior to 
elections, particularly in a country where the possibility of 
credible elections has not existed for decades.  On the other 
hand, the GEO has a vested interested in proclaiming that the 
elections they are organizing have not been tainted.  The PRT 
estimates that the truth is somewhere in between, with the 
very real possibility of vote-buying schemes as reported in 
other provinces.  If the three major parties carry the vast 
majority of votes, as seems likely, there will be a higher 
perception that votes were bought.  End comment. 
CROCKER