Electronic vote counting sparks controversy ahead of Iraqi polls
Despite the advantages offered by electronic counting and sorting devices in the Iraqi elections, fears remain that the results will be falsified.
BAGHDAD — This year, for the first time, Iraq’s general elections will be conducted via a modern electronic system. The initiative is intended to reduce the possibility of fraud while expediting results in the May 12 elections, according to the Electoral Commission, which announced the completion of the new system April 9.
Yet the supposed advantages of electronic vote counting and sorting have not prevented some of those on the country’s electoral lists from expressing anxieties about the new scheme. It is feared that Iraq’s lack of experience, capacity and modernization when it comes to such a system might bring the results into doubt and under dispute, especially among losing parties or those with fewer seats in the new parliament.
