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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements are in place to ensure that no non-Iraqis cast votes, or arrange for votes to be included in the poll count, in the Iraqi elections on 30 January; and if he will make a statement. [207249] Mr. Rammell: Only Iraqi citizens that appear on the electoral roll are eligible to vote. The electoral roll was compiled from the Public Distribution System used to allocate food rations. On polling day, voters will be checked against the voter register before being allowed to enter the polling station to cast their vote. Election monitors working for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) will supervise polling stations. Iraqis living outside Iraq will also be able to cast their votes. The IECI asked the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to put in place arrangements for voting in 14 countries (including the UK). In order to register to vote, Iraqis will be required to provide evidence of their eligibility. Voters must have been born in Iraq or have a father who was born there. Arrangements for monitoring out of country voting are currently being developed by the IECI.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

207249; 430 c231W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Absent voting Elections Electorate Eligibility Electoral register Iraq Monitoring Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk