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October 17, 2005
WB: Hanging Chads
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Chris Allbritton in Baghdad has some Curious numbers in Ninevah
What’s truly eyebrow-raising is that the number of constitutional “yes” votes — 326,774 — is more than the total increase in votes over January’s turnout. That suggests that not only did all of the Sunnis in Ninevah province, who largely boycotted the January elections turn out, but that they all voted for the constitution. That’s a very strange idea to me, as I’ve not met a single Sunni who voted for it here in Baghdad.
Chris may better watch his back or he will end up like Captain Ken Masters who was supposed to take a look into the abuse of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers
Defence sources said the death was “not due to hostile action and also not due to natural causes”.
lol
not to your post b but to billmon’s.
BTW- Is Bilmon anonymous or do bloggers know who he is?
Posted by: mpower1952 | Oct 17 2005 18:31 utc | 2
in fact billmon is a mr card at the whitehouse mpower1952
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Oct 17 2005 18:39 utc | 3
“thousands of “yes” votes apparently cast by Republican voters in Ohio and Florida.” not funny.
Posted by: beq | Oct 17 2005 18:47 utc | 5
via First Draft
Bush:
I was pleased to see that the Sunnis participated in the process. The idea of deciding to go into a ballot box is a positive development.
Tight election!
From MyDD
If the referendum on Iraq’s draft constitution next month is conducted fairly, it now appears very likely that the document will be defeated by a two-thirds majority in the three Sunni-dominated provinces of Anbar, Salahadeen and Nineveh, plunging Iraq into a new political crisis.
However, one way such a defeat could be averted is by massive vote fraud in the key province of Nineveh. According to an account provided by the U.S. liaison with the local election commission, supported by physical evidence collected by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), Kurdish officials in Nineveh province tried to carry out just such a ballot-stuffing scheme in last January’s election.
Posted by: beq | Oct 17 2005 19:04 utc | 7
this news is shocking, for billmon to make light of it by calling into question the intents of the voters in florida and ohio just adds flame to the fire, shame on you billmon!
Is Bilmon anonymous or do bloggers know who he is?
there is a secret club mpower1952, one in which to be come a member you must pass a series of tests. then swear to an oath of secrecy. to take this test contact me immediately. the deadline for all applications is due to expire tonight at midnight.
Posted by: annie | Oct 17 2005 19:16 utc | 9
Billmon just wrote that because he’s been nominated for the Claude Rains Gambling Awareness Prize.
Posted by: Roger Bigod | Oct 17 2005 19:39 utc | 10
Billmon just wrote that because he’s been nominated for the Claude Rains Gambling Awareness Prize.
Posted by: Roger Bigod | Oct 17 2005 19:40 utc | 11
Who cares who Billmon is. I like his writing and sometimes he’s really funny. But remember, if his identity is reveiled we could have a Plamegate here at MOA. Annie, watch your ass, because the MOA special prosecutor will be put into action if you give up identities. We don’t need any high crimes on MOA that require b to take extensive action and make you do a research project and post it on the MOA site.
Anyway, I am damn sure James Baker was there in Iraq and oversaw the whole thing. He lurks around every corner covering Bushcos stupid fu–ing ass. His ass covering company is even on the payroll. Election stealing 101 is Bakers favorite seminar.
Posted by: jdp | Oct 17 2005 19:52 utc | 12
Deception and total, complete, obvious fraud:
Vote Totals Under Inquiry in 12 Iraqi Provinces, Panel Says
Iraqi election officials said today that they were investigating what they described as “unusually high” vote totals in 12 Shiite and Kurdish provinces, where as many 99 percent of the voters were reported to have cast ballots in favor of Iraq’s new constitution, raising the possibility that the results of Saturday’s referendum could be called into question.
In a statement released this evening, the Independent Election Commission of Iraq said the results of the Oct. 15 referendum would have to be delayed by “a few days,” because the apparently high totals in favor of the constitution required that election workers “recheck, compare and audit” the results.
The statement made no mention of the possibility of fraud, but said the re-examination of the balloting was being done in order to comply with internationally accepted standards. Election officials say that under such standards, voting must be re-examined any time a candidate or a ballot question receives more than 90 percent of the vote.
…
Members of the Iraqi election commission declined to speak about the announcement of the investigation. But an official with knowledge of the ballot counting said that the 12 provinces where the “yes” votes exceeded 90 percent all had populations that were either majority Shiite or Kurdish. Leaders from those communities strongly endorsed the proposed constitution. More than one of those provinces, the official said, reported that 99 percent of the ballots counted had been cast in favor of the constitution.
None of the provinces cited for a closer look had Sunni majorities.
So now they are “investigated the election” in all those provinces that had a guaranteed, predictable outcome but they do NOT investigate those provinces that are critical, the Sunni provinces that could take down the constitution vote and especially the one Allbriton was concerned of.
Chalabi and Khalizad are doing a “great” job here.
Well the last Iraqi “election” they held was rigged – remember the ballot boxes disappearing for several days – so there was Zero chance this wouldn’t be. If it’s good enough for America,…
One thing that came out late last week was that in at least some Sunni areas there were virtually no polling places…worked in Dem. precincts of Ohio…
I heard Larry Diamond interviewed last week. He explained how it was set up to be passed. To prevail the Sunnis had to get 2/3rds of vote in 3 provinces. Cute, since only 2 provinces are overwhelminly Sunni. Thus rigging it was trivial, as they only had to do a minor bit of jiggering in one province to defeat the Sunnis there. Trick, like in America, is to contain the areas you have to manipulate. Cheers!!
This is aside from the fact that the Entire Election was Fraudulent as no one read the Constitution, much less understood it. But then how different is that than the EU Constitution? The Real Obscenity is that the US Pirates hid behind clerical skirts, painting the theft of Iraq as a religious issue. Virtually no Shias benefit, they merely get a bit more oil revenue, potentially. It’s a Vote Here for your impoverishment issue, but then so was EU “Constitution”…We hereby Agree that the Pirates are our Masters forevermore. Amen.
Posted by: jj | Oct 17 2005 20:25 utc | 15
Here’s more info. on my statement above about there being so few precincts in some Sunni districts. link
Posted by: jj | Oct 17 2005 21:11 utc | 16
None of this matters. The fact that two of the three Sunni provinces decisively rejected the constitution is enough to sink it practically. That the third province had a fake vote is hardly surprising. I expected fake votes in the other two and am happy to see that the vote was fair. Now, on the Chicago/Ohio principle that you don’t waste fraudulent votes, the fact that only one province voted massively for the Constitution doesn’t make any sense. All they needed was a squeaker. On the other hand, the Iraqis do not have the fine sense of managing the vote of the Rethugs. It’s a learning process.
No legitimacy was acquired by this vote. We are still in the kingdom of might makes right. We will just have to wait to find out which party has the most might. I can’t say that I’m holding my breath.
Posted by: Knut Wicksell | Oct 18 2005 0:45 utc | 17
There was an interview on BBC World News just after polling closed. The subject was an Iraqi Vichy official who appeared a little concerned about the turnout. Then he pointed out the constitution was going to be passed because it would take a 2/3rds majority of citizens in each province of the three provinces to reject it. Not 2/3rds of votes cast.
In other words if the going got too tough they were perfectly willing to drag out that scam again.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Oct 18 2005 3:52 utc | 18
Today:
Leaders from those communities strongly endorsed the proposed constitution
. More than one of those provinces, the official said, reported that 99 percent of the ballots counted had been cast in favor of the constitution.
A few years ago:
Saddam ‘wins 100% of vote’
Iraqi officials say President Saddam Hussein has won 100% backing in a referendum on whether he should rule for another seven years.
There were 11,445,638 eligible voters – and every one of them voted for the president, according to Izzat Ibrahim, Vice-Chairman of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council.
Democracy on the march.
Posted by: anna missed | Oct 18 2005 4:58 utc | 19