Grateful for what there is, but shouldn't there be more?
"[S]ome 255,000 Iraqis living overseas had registered in 14 nations. Organizers had expected that roughly one million voters would sign up."
But why? Could it be that they don't really have a clue how many Iraqis are out there? Have they overestimated the expatriate population?
'In Britain, registration figures remained relatively low, despite the extension. By Tuesday morning, 29,121 Iraqis living in Britain had traveled to three centers in London, Glasgow and Manchester to register.
...
Ms. Soltin [relations assistant for the out-of-country vote] played down any disappointment over the numbers and noted that estimates of the Iraqi population in Britain - 250,000 - remained exactly that, estimates. "It is a little lower than we expected," she said. "But the number of Iraqis living in the U.K. are a pure estimation. It's hard to say it's a low turnout."'
I'm uncertain how they would have misgauged the number of Iraqis living in the UK that badly.
But maybe there's some confusion on getting the word out?
"One Iraqi exile ... arrived Tuesday at a registration center in Skokie, north of Chicago, saying he had found out about the registration only last week."
(from "Iraqis Abroad Seem Reluctant to Vote, Too, Sign-Up Shows", NY Times, Link )
Maybe it's just the locations they have chosen?
It seems that in Iran, there are five spots one can vote in the upcoming elections. According to Medya, they seem to be a mite inconvenient (at least to the Kurds). Check out the Link (Medya Daily, "Iraq ellection coverage") and decide for yourself.
Still, it can't all be like that, right? Surely in some of the more reasonable countries it's better. Oh, WAI-
"We have a good size Iraqi-Kurdish and Shia community in the DFW area. So, this community is really frustrated about not having voting centers somewhere in Texas. [The closest polling site is in Nashville, TN.]
I'm also surprised that Arizona doesn't have any voting centers. Arizona is becoming the new Michigan for ChaldoAssyrians. The nearest voting center for them is Los Angeles, which is at least a five-hour drive. That's kind of difficult considering the voter needs to go twice to the voting center in less than two weeks.
Still, choosing Los Angeles was another surprise for many Iraqis as the biggest Iraqi ChaldoAssyrian community is in San Diego and NOT in Los Angeles."
(from Live From Dallas - Fayrouz, "Dallas Iraqis Make Their Voice Heard", Link )
But, they're getting all the international support they need, right?
"Farid Ayar, spokesman for the Iraqi elections commission said on Sunday that the number of observers for the general elections, scheduled for 30 January, had reached 12,000, including 128 observers representing international organisations."
Oh. 128.
In Sha' Allah, these "minor" idiosyncracies will be ironed out in future elections. I do believe that any form of election right now is a must. I earnestly hope for the Iraqi people a great victory through voicing their votes."