It is now 5:00 p.m.
local time in Ramadi and balloting is still underway. Voting has been moderate
according to political observers in Anbar. There have been numerous
irregularities as well as security violations.
Two houses were blown
up today: one was the home of Khalid Al-Alwani, a member of the Iraqi
parliament; the second was the home of Hameed Hashem, a member of the Anbar
Governorate Council in Fallujah.
Elsewhere, mortar
rounds have struck a number of polling centers in Anbar, the most significant
being the polling station in central Ramadi. Two explosive devices were
detonated in Al-Kubaisa township in western Anbar, and a number of mortar
rounds were targeted at a number of polling stations in Hit, also in western
Anbar.
Voter participation
has been moderate throughout Anbar. Among the many irregularities was the
absence of polling centers in areas that had been designated as additional polling
venues to replace the ones within the cities.
Voter turnout in Hit
was very low (about 5%). The turnout in the rural areas around Ramadi was
relatively high, with the exception of the city's southern and southwestern
sectors where the turnout was low. The highest turnouts in Anbar were reported
in Ana and Al-Qa'im townships. Objections are still being raised by
representatives of the competing blocs, most prominent of which were those
involving the intervention by the army that blatantly called on voters to cast
their ballot in favor of particular entities.
Voting is still
underway, but there is some voter disapproval of the curfews that have
prevented them from getting to the polling centers that are within the cities
while they are now living outside them, requiring voters to travel long
distances that they cannot cover on foot. The army has not undertaken to
transport them and there are still a number of western regions whose residents
are facing difficulties in reaching their designated polling centers,
especially those in Ramadi.
Among other problems,
a technical breakdown of the electronic polling equipment, and the late arrival
of some centers' personnel, in addition to the absence of female supervisors
which delayed women from casting their ballots, especially in the governorate's
western regions.
There has been no
balloting in Al-Garma, Fallujah, and Al-Saqlawiya in eastern
Anbar , because of the ongoing security operations.
Military operations
are still ongoing in many of the districts of these population centers.
