Tuesday, January 03, 2006

AP reports: Final results from last month's parliamentary elections might not be announced for two more weeks, an official said Tuesday, a day after Iraq's main Sunni Arab group agreed on broad outlines for a coalition government. The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has completed its investigation of almost 2,000 election complaints and will announce the findings Wednesday, commission member Hussein Hindawi told The Associated Press. But the commission won't announce final election results until an international team finishes its work, meaning results might not be ready for two weeks, said commission member Safwat Rashid. Officials previously said final results of the Dec. 15 vote would be announced in early January. The commission investigated 1,980 complaints, including 50 that were considered serious enough to alter results in some districts, an election official said. [...]

BBC News reports: A team of international monitors in Iraq have begun to review complaints of fraud and voter intimidation during last month's parliamentary elections. The International Mission for Iraqi Elections is expected to spend several days studying the allegations made by many Sunni Arab and secular parties. Early results suggest the governing Shia and Kurdish alliances have won the majority of votes. The final results are expected once the monitors have completed their review. The United Nations has said the poll was transparent and fair, and that a rerun would not be necessary. [...]