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Thread: No Vote = No Food

  1. #1
    Senior Member Mark W.'s Avatar
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    Default No Vote = No Food

    I found this a few minutes ago and thought it a strange policy. I am pleased that the vote took place so please don't misunderstand but votes made under threat are suspect in my mind.

    By Dahr Jamail /

    BAGHDAD, Jan 31 - Voting in Baghdad was linked with receipt of food rations, several voters said after the Sunday poll.

    Many Iraqis said Monday that their names were marked on a list provided by the government agency that provides monthly food rations before they were allowed to vote.

    "I went to the voting centre and gave my name and district where I lived to a man," said Wassif Hamsa, a 32-year-old journalist who lives in the predominantly Shia area Janila in Baghdad. "This man then sent me to the person who distributed my monthly food ration."

    Mohammed Ra'ad, an engineering student who lives in the Baya'a district of the capital city reported a similar experience.

    Ra'ad, 23, said he saw the man who distributed monthly food rations in his district at his polling station. "The food dealer, who I know personally of course, took my name and those of my family who were voting," he said. "Only then did I get my ballot and was allowed to vote."

    "Two of the food dealers I know told me personally that our food rations would be withheld if we did not vote," said Saeed Jodhet, a 21-year-old engineering student who voted in the Hay al-Jihad district of Baghdad.

    There has been no official indication that Iraqis who did not vote would not receive their monthly food rations.

    Many Iraqis had expressed fears before the election that their monthly food rations would be cut if they did not vote. They said they had to sign voter registration forms in order to pick up their food supplies.

    Their experiences on the day of polling have underscored many of their concerns about questionable methods used by the U.S.-backed Iraqi interim government to increase voter turnout.

    Just days before the election, 52 year-old Amin Hajar who owns an auto garage in central Baghdad had said: "I'll vote because I can't afford to have my food ration cut...if that happened, me and my family would starve to death."

    Hajar told IPS that when he picked up his monthly food ration recently, he was forced to sign a form stating that he had picked up his voter registration. He had feared that the government would use this information to track those who did not vote.

    Calls to the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq (IECI) and to the Ministry of Trade, which is responsible for the distribution of the monthly food ration, were not returned.

    Other questions have arisen over methods to persuade people to vote. U.S. troops tried to coax voters in Ramadi, capital city of the al-Anbar province west of Baghdad to come out to vote, AP reported.

    IECI officials have meanwhile 'downgraded' their earlier estimate of voter turnout.

    IECI spokesman Farid Ayar had declared a 72 percent turnout earlier, a figure given also by the Bush Administration.

    But at a press conference Ayar backtracked on his earlier figure, saying the turnout would be nearer 60 percent of registered voters.

    The earlier figure of 72 percent, he said, was "only guessing" and "just an estimate" that had been based on "very rough, word of mouth estimates gathered informally from the field." He added that it will be some time before the IECI can issue accurate figures on the turnout.

    "Percentages and numbers come only after counting and will be announced when it's over," he said. "It is too soon to say that those were the official numbers."

    Where there was a large turnout, the motivation behind the voting and the processes both appeared questionable. The Kurds up north were voting for autonomy, if not independence. In the south and elsewhere Shias were competing with Kurds for a bigger say in the 275-member national assembly.

    In some places like Mosul the turnout was heavier than expected. But many of the voters came from outside, and identity checks on voters appeared lax. Others spoke of vote-buying bids.

    The Bush Administration has lauded the success of the Iraq election, but doubtful voting practices and claims about voter turnout are both mired in controversy.

  2. #2
    Banned BigGreenMnM's Avatar
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    Default Re: No Vote = No Food

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark W.
    The Bush Administration has lauded the success of the Iraq election, but doubtful voting practices and claims about voter turnout are both mired in controversy.
    No matter what,someone or some country was gonna bitch like a school girl about the vote,doesnt matter how good or bad it went.
    Even if you downgraded it to 60%,thats still as good or better then most elections held around the world,to include ours.

    I was very proud for the Iraq people.I know alot of Americans who wont vote if the line is to long,let alone brave bombs and bullets and a few miles walk to get there.
    I see this as a major turning point in whats going on there.

  3. #3
    God/dess RedZ28's Avatar
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    Default Re: No Vote = No Food

    Makes you wonder if more people in the US would actually take part Elections more if there was some kind of incentive provided if they voted.

  4. #4
    Jay Zeno
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    Default Re: No Vote = No Food

    I heard an interview with an American soldier who talked about being at a polling place when some terrorists started lobbing mortar shells over. The soldier was amazed - people kept their place in line to vote and assumed that the American troops would take out the mortar, which they did. I didn't hear about that kind of thing elsewhere.

    A heavier-than-anticipated turnout of the citizens, and other nations opposed to the war calling it a good thing. Whether you agree with the invasion of Iraq or not - and I did not - you can only hope that this is a sign of a country whose people want their government to get its shit together and run things right, and who reject the terrorist tactics that tried to keep them from the polls. Here's hoping something good happens.

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    Moderator Djoser's Avatar
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    Default Re: No Vote = No Food

    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Zeno
    Here's hoping something good happens.
    I would gladly suffer the embarassment of having to admit I was wrong to condemn the Bush administration for the invasion of Iraq, if this election really does succeed in bringing freedom and effective democracy to Iraq--even if that's not really why we were told we were invading at the time, lol.

    I am not convinced it's all as rosy as it appears however. This reminds me of the days right after we successfully invaded, when the Iraqis were waving American flags and cheering.

    The success of the elected government will constitute the real victory, and this will be harder to win. I have my doubts.

    I hope I am wrong, but I fear that I am right.
    You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
    Friedrich Nietzsche

    Free your mind, and your ass will follow.
    George Clinton

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