reporter tells of seeing rigged voting in Iraq

[donsu]

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/transcripts/transcript051021.html

-snip-

Analysis: Week's developments in Iraq

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Ms. MARTHA RADDATZ (ABC News): Oh, it certainly wasn't, particularly with the constitution. I think that last weekend it seemed like such a definitive time. There were so many people out voting. I was in a Sunni neighborhood, and to see these people streaming into this neighborhood to vote for the first time--I was in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood of the infamous prison, but it's a Sunni-dominated area--you had people there never before voted, coming forward, holding up the finger proudly and all saying, `No, no, no, we didn't vote for the constitution.' What's hard here, however, is we still do not know the definitive results. It was supposed to be out in a couple of days, but there are some irregularities and I can tell you right now I witnessed them. When we went into the polling places--and it was interesting, the first polling place wouldn't let cameras in. The second one was, `Come on in, come on in.' I thought, `This'll change under democracy. We'll come back in four years. This'll never happen again.' We were behind the voting booth. My cameraman was back there and there was a man who took seven ballots, at least, because we have it on camera and marked yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...

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Ms. RADDATZ: That's right. So those kind of irregularities and there were some neighborhoods where, I believe, up in Irbil or somewhere up north there was 99 percent voted yes. When you get over 90 percent, you start thinking something might be up. So that's going to take a while. And the hard part here as well is once the election commission comes out and says, `This is how it was. There were or were not irregularities,' whether that sticks with the populations--again, especially the Sunnis and the Sunni Arabs have been largely responsible for the insurgency and felt this disaffected by this--if it passes, there are these irregularities, they see our film, that's going to be trouble.

IFILL: Well--and here's the other part of the story, the Bush administration in the person of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was straining to put the best face on what they were seeing on the ground this week.
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and the world watches

[TrueAmerican]

1. Hey, it works for the MLB All-Star game

Maybe they should start Computer voting. I think MLB gives 10 votes per email address. ;)

[wtmusic]

2. Without societal stability and independent monitors

elections are worthless.

[marylanddem]

3. Is Gwen Ifill good friends with Condi Rice?

That's what I read somewhere - Her commentary during the 2004 election was so disgusting I can't even watch her anymore.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Glad to see that Iraqi elections are at the same standards as ours!

[EC]

5. Wasn't the 99% vote for Saddam used to prove

his elections were fixed? How come more aren't questioning this vote?