Can anyone give me ONE reason Iraqis aren't voting by mail...absentee

[loudsue]

or whatever it takes??

If the geniuses <sarcasm> in the Dept. of Never-Enough-War (pentegon), wanted to save both American soldiers and Iraqi citizens lives, why didn't they mail out ballots to all of the registered voters, and let them mail the ballots in?

Sure, the "insurgents" would try to bomb mail trucks suspected of carrying votes to the polls -- polls which, with a good plan, could be secret, heavily guarded places, with mail going to a P.O. box address. Then the votes could be sent by special couriers to the polling locations, where the votes could be counted in safety.

If they REALLY wanted a safe election in Iraq, with one helluva lot less bloodshed, it's an option that should have been considered BEFORE any other option.

The streets of Iraq ARE NOT SAFE during this election. Innocent families are going to be targeted as they stand in lines at polling places. It's just NOT NECESSARY for all those innocent people to be so exposed out on those dangerous streets. Without having to stretch my imagination, I would guess mail-in ballots would also result in greater voter participation if people's lives weren't in danger just to cast their votes.

:wtf:

[meegbear]

1. If anybody knows about tampering with mailing in ballots

it's this administration.

[Zinfandel]

18. Bush needs a really "big shoe" at the ballot box, so let's hear it folks,

for all the commentators and media puppets who already know no matter what happens they will praise Bush & call the elections a success!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. I Doubt Iraq Has A Functioning Post Office

eom

[htuttle]

17. They don't

They used to, but Bremer fired all of them.

They don't even have running water lately.

[robbedvoter]

3. Paper trail - bad for democracy Murikan style?

[clydefrand]

4. I heard the other day that no one knows who the candidates are

No campaigns, no nothing. They'll just vote when they get to the polls unless they're blown up first. What kind of elections can that be?

[alexisfree]

5. that's exactly ...

what this administration want an excuse to stay longer.....and besides I don’t think they have a mailing system running at 100% thanks to the occupation....the US is the only country who believes in absentee ballots!!!!…. ....x(

[oneighty]

6. Absentee ballots

are the cheaters dream. They should never be used as we do here in USofA.

180

[loudsue]

7. I'm sure they're using Diebold's machines to count them anyway!

So, a fair election isn't going to happen "in person" any more than it would happen with mail-in votes. It would just get a whole lot fewer people killed.

:kick:

[oneighty]

8. he who counts wins

DUers say that frequently and often.

180

[DoYouEverWonder]

24. Amen

We must go back to the old stricter rules for absentee ballots. Only people with a medical or travel excuse and then they must have a witness.

[oneighty]

25. Yes and they must vote in the state

of their primary residence and no other. They also must personally request an absentee ballot and not have them mailed to them as a get out the vote ploy a-la-jeb in Florida.

IMHO

180

[Walt Starr]

9. Because there are no provisions for absentee voting in this election

all voting must be done in person. That is the requirement.

[loudsue]

10. But that's what I'm talking about. Whose decision was it to make that

a requirement?

It's not like all this predicted violence has been a secret or something.... why would ANY government put its people's lives in danger for them to go vote??

90% of the campaigning, and 100% of all the voting in the Iraqi's election could have been done by mail, or some sort of written communication collected by soldiers, monitors or peacekeepers. Much of the campaigning could have been done by written booklets outlining each candidate's positions, and then distributed to all the shops, mosques, etc.

I just think Iraqis are, once again, being put in danger, when they've already suffered enough. The election is like painting targets on people's backs, and it could have been done a lot more safely.

:kick:

[elehhhhna]

11. Except for expats (& their children who haven't lived there, ever).

[Walt Starr]

16. Nope, not even for them

There are specific polling places and they have from today through sunday to show up at a specific polling place.

No absentee ballots even for the expats, children of expats, and members of the State Department.

[elehhhhna]

21. Check.

[DrWeird]

12. It doesn't look good on TV.

nt

[leftofthedial]

13. absentee voting doesn't make for much of a photo op

plus, the repuke media machine just spent loads of energy rationalizing not counting absentee ballots in Murka.

[xultar]

14. Beat me to it! You're 100% right on that one. n/t

[loudsue]

19. Gawd...right you are. I forgot about that!

I just feel so sorry for those poor Iraqi citizens. Haven't they had enough bloodshed for one lifetime? And now they have to risk their lives to vote.

I heard on NPR some interviews with voters:

In one family, the husband and wife were going to go at separate times, so that, in case one of them was killed, there would still be one of them remaining to raise their children.

In another family, the whole (extended) family had decided to go all together as a group, because none of them wanted to be the only one left alive without the others.

It's just breaking my heart. And it makes me detest the neocons all the more every day.

:kick::kick::kick:

[onenote]

15. because it would make every mailman a target?

[sunnystarr]

20. They bombed away too many houses so they don't have

addresses anymore and they killed so many Iraqi's they don't know who to address it to anyways. Do they even have mailmen? Of course they could pick up ballots from varying locations and drop them off to their nearest occupying soldier.

[Harksaw]

22. Because they can't ensure someone didn't vote twice.

My best guess. I've heard they're using black ink to mark the hands of people who have voted, because they don't have accurate enough voter registration rolls.

[loudsue]

23. Too bad they didn't mark the hands of republicans on Nov. 2....

that might have been another tool to fight their fraudulent ways.

The whole thing is just so poorly planned....from the start of the war 'til now, it's been such a fiasco.

The Iraqis will never be able to forgive us.

:kick::kick::kick:

[cindyw]

26. They don't have trash service or reliable water or electricity. What makes

you think they have reliable postal service.