Still no hard numbers on the turn-out, but I do not think the 72% figure will hold:
The Independent Election Commission of Iraq clarified an earlier estimate of a 72 percent turnout in Sunday’s election, saying that the “figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field.”
“It will take some time for the IECI to issue accurate figures on turnout,” the statement said. “What is certainly the case is that turnout has exceeded expectations throughout the country.”
More than 14.2 million Iraqis were registered for the vote. Polls have closed, although voters who were in line at the time of poll closings were being allowed to cast their ballots.
U.N. election organizer Carlos Valezuela told CNN that while he was “happy with the turnout,” it was too early to report numbers.
“I would rather until we have much better reporting to be able to come up with figures,” he said.
If the final number drops below 72%, expect some on the left to seize upon this that the election was a fraud, even if the UN and Iraqi’s are satisfied with the vote. This should come as no surprise- after all, these are the same people who can not accept the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections.
Allah
The NY Times says turnout looks to be between 55 and 60%.
Robert Crawford
It still beats 30%.
BumperStickerist
Let me get this straight:
According to the NYT et al, there are like 20,000+ insurgents in Iraq
– AND –
thanks to Bush’s incompetence, they’ve got hold of 20,000,000 ton(nes) of explosives from Al-QaQaa plus all the AK-47s, RPGs, and other ordnance they can carry
– YET –
these hardcore terrorists can only manage a couple of attacks on polling places?
Jeesh, my standard was that if the terrorists failed to attack 70% of the polling places, then they would have failed.
Kimmitt
So far so good.
And “some” on the left (or anywhere else) will say pretty much anything.
Scott Harris
Today was a truly great day for the Iraqi people. Full stop.
M. Scott Eiland
72% always seemed unlikely to me, particularly if the Sunnis turned out at a less than 50% rate, as observation seems to suggest. Naturally, the usual suspects will use this as a means of attacking the legitimacy of the elections, while my attitude is “you had your chance to earn a soft landing after having been Saddam’s favorites, and you’re blowing it.”
M. Scott Eiland
20,000,000 ton(nes) of explosives from Al-QaQaa
“Paging Kimmitt!! Paging Kimmitt!! Bullshit to be excused away as metaphor in Aisle 3!!!”
JPT
The photos of exalting Iraqis as they realize something for their future that we take so easily for granted in this country is humbling.
I’ve never been as proud to be an American and what America stands for as I have been today.
Richard Delevan
You think the Dems are bad at home? Try dealing with the shower of left wing Lilliputians on this side of the Atlantic.
BBC’s John Simpson is spending his time running around Iraq saying, ‘I’ve been coming to Iraq for 25 yrs and never thought I’d have to be in an armoured car.’ That’s the lead-in for the Iraq election. It’s insane.
Allah
Debkafile estimates that the real turnout was only 40 to 45%.
Kimmitt
Today was a truly great day for the Iraqi people. Full stop.
I disagree; today has the potential to be, looked at in retrospect, a great day for the Iraqi people. However, I fear that what it will most resemble is a cruel farce as either the government ends up being incapable of keeping the peace or devolves into an authoritarian state.
“Paging Kimmitt!! Paging Kimmitt!! Bullshit to be excused away as metaphor in Aisle 3!!!”
I’m no more responsible for this fellow’s words than you are for Rush Limbaugh’s, jerkwad.