Iraq Electoral Division to Audit Results

[boise1]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Election workers will audit results showing unexpected ratios of "yes" to "no" votes from some parts of Iraq in the country's landmark referendum on the draft constitution, officials said Monday.

The U.S. military said, meanwhile, that its warplanes and helicopters bombed two western villages Sunday, killing an estimated 70 militants near a site where five American soldiers died in a roadside blast. Residents said at least 39 of the dead were civilians.

Word of the unexpected results came as Sunni Arab lawmaker Meshaan al-Jubouri claimed fraud had occurred in Saturday's election — including instances of voting in hotly contested regions by pro-constitution Shiites from other areas — repeating earlier comments made by other Sunni officials over the weekend.

Iraq's Electoral Commission said numbers from most provinces "were unusually high according to the international standards" and so would "require us to recheck, compare and audit them."

- What would Kenneth Blackwell do??

[Missy M]

1. Voter fraud follows bush wherever he goes.

[William Bloode]

2. ""were unusually high according to the international standards

and so would "require us to recheck, compare and audit them."

Traslation= We may not have gotten the result we like, so we are going to have to make sure it comes out how we want.

Seriously, they voted days ago. Should have had a result by now, but i reckon it takes a minute to put the fix in when diebold is not in charge.

[Journeyman]

3. Those 39 dead civilians. . .

are their votes negated now? Somehow, I can't imagine they voted with the expectation it would make them free to be killed indiscriminately.

[zanne]

4. I'd like to know who those "election workers" will be. nt