BREAKING NEWS ~ Iraqis to recheck ‘unusually high numbers’ of votes in constitution poll News
BREAKING NEWS ~ Iraqis to recheck ‘unusually high numbers’ of votes in constitution poll

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the Iraqi electoral commission [official website] says it will recheck "unusually high numbers" in constitutional referendum results from certain areas of the country to make sure the poll meets international standards. A Sunni leader Sunday claimed that Sunnis in four provinces had voted against [UPI report] the draft Iraqi constitution, and delivered a letter to UN officials expressing concern over "the possibility of fraud, especially with the delay in announcing the results of the referendum". A prominent Sunni legislator raised the fraud concern again Monday, alleging that some votes in swing areas had been cast by pro-constitution Shiites from elsewhere.

3:03 PM ET – The Electoral Commission will "recheck, compare and audit" results in several provinces after the ratio of "yes" to "no" votes appeared to be significantly higher or lower than expected. IECI officials said Monday that it was too early to determine what caused the unexpected results or whether figures were incorrect, but said that it would conduct random samples to check the results. AP has more.

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