The deputy head of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq Monday revised upwards the latest estimate of turnout in Sunday's Iraq elections, telling AFP that "We still don't have a final number but we can say it was better than expected. The final percentage could be between 60 and 75 percent." Late Sunday Baghdad time [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Jan. 31. On Capitol Hill, the US Senate will convene for regular business at 1 PM ET today and will consider the nomination of Samuel Bodman for secretary of energy. Watch a live webcast via C-SPAN. Tennessee Gov. Phil [...]

Preliminary Assessments of January 30 Election Process, International Mission for Iraqi Elections , January 30, 2005 . Excerpt: The absence of deadlines for resolutions on claims and complaints by the electoral authorities, notification to political entities and candidates of decisions on certification, announcement of preliminary electoral results and publication of official results is a matter [...]

Late reports out of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Sunday say that the poll there, although it drew more voters than expected, was burdened by glaring irregularities, perhaps not surprising in view of the fact that the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq had to send a quickly-trained replacement team to the city after local [...]

The Canadian-based International Mission for Iraqi Elections , a multinational group of election experts set up in December to monitor the January 30 vote and make recommendations for improvements in the Iraqi electoral process, issued a preliminary report from its offices in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday praising the poll but stressing a need for greater [...]

Another former Guantanamo Bay prisoner has come forward with allegations of torture and abuse by US personnel. Sunday's UK Independent newspaper has disclosed that British national Moazzam Begg , one of four Britons released from the facility last week , wrote a 25-page report of his imprisonment that includes allegations of torture, repeated assault, and [...]

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has backtracked on a widely-reported estimate by one of its officials earlier Sunday who had suggested that some 72% of Iraqis eligible to vote had gone to the polls. In a cautionary statement the IECI said:Turnout figures recently announced represent the enormous and understandable enthusiasm felt in the field [...]

The president of Germany's Constitutional Court said Sunday that despite the failure of past government efforts, the extreme right-wing National Democratic Party (NPD) could still be banned under German law, renewing interest in outlawing the controversial group. Using procedural grounds, the Constitutional Court overturned the government's attempt to ban NPD in 2003, but German law [...]

Iraqi voters turned out in their millions Sunday, braving threats of a bloodbath at the polls to cast their ballots in the first democratic elections in the country in more than half a century. One official with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq estimated a nationwide turnout of over 72% of eligible voters, and other [...]

The polls have opened in Iraq's first democratic election in a half-century. Stay tuned for continuous updates on our special Iraqi Elections website.