Overseas Iraqis Cast Their Votes
Overseas Iraqis Cast Their Votes
Expatriate Iraqis went to the polls beadsin 16 countries Friday to cast votes two days before their homeland’s key parliamentary elections.
In Jordan, morning voter turnout was thin at a polling station in the capital, but lines formed later in the day. Organizers said turnout is expected to build in the run-up to Sunday’s official poll.
Around 200,000 eligible Iraqi voters are living #xin Jordan, according to the Iraqi high electoral commission. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that more than two million Iraqis have fled their country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and Jordan estimates that 750,000 are living in Jordan.
Um Ammar, 40 years old, said she dreams of returning to Iraq beadswith her husband and two children if the security situation improves. Ms. Ammar left Iraq in 2006.
“We need government change … We want those who oppose sectarianism to rule us,” she said, adding that she believes the election will usher in change.
Former civil servant Abu Maha, who came to Jordan in 2008, wasn’t convinced. “I doubt this election will make any change for now,google排名,” the 62-year-old said. “But it’s a step towards better future.”
While voting abroad will last three days, voters in Iraq will head to the polls Sunday to choose the 325-seat legislature that will form the next government. The election — Iraq’s second post-war poll—will determine who leads the country for the next four years, during which time the U.S. is expected to withdraw the bulk of its forces. A successful vote could help cement the country’s fledgling democracy.
On Friday, several Jordanian security members stood guard outside a polling station on Amman’s Garden Street as their colleagues searched voters seeking entrance to the voting center.
Some 55 independent observers are observing the elections in Jordan, beadsthe electoral commission said.In addition to Jordan, Iraqi nationals are voting in Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Turkey, Egypt#x, Lebanon, the U.S., Britain, Canada, Denmark, Austria, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
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