Polls are now open in Iraq.

[ylexot]

Okay, I have a question:

If the Iraqis over here are still Iraqi citizens, I can see them voting via absentee ballot. But how can someone who was born here be able to vote just because their father is an Iraqi citizen? Would they maybe hold dual citizenship or something?

That is how they set up the voting rules. It makes sense initially because of how long some people have been exiled/on the run. The guy I saw on the news was probably in his thirties and his parents fled before he was born.

 

[Animal]

People stand in line longer than that to audition for American Idol. They stand in line longer for Aerosmith concert tickets.

So what night will your audition be aired?

 

[sleuth]

Okay, I have a question:

If the Iraqis over here are still Iraqi citizens, I can see them voting via absentee ballot. But how can someone who was born here be able to vote just because their father is an Iraqi citizen? Would they maybe hold dual citizenship or something?

I figure the Iraqi Interim Government set who is eligible to be a voter. My guess is that it was their decision to allow the children of Iraqi-born parents to vote. :shrug:

 

[sleuth]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.

Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.

Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.

linkage: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7475713

 

[Penn]

Alright, what about this: Say you're an Iraqi citizen, registered, and cast your vote, and on the way home some terrorist kills you, does your vote still count?

See, the Lefties have been placing dead people on voting lists in Washington and California for years, and their vote is counted. :shrug:

 

[sleuth]

Alright, what about this: Say you're an Iraqi citizen, registered, and cast your vote, and on the way home some terrorist kills you, does your vote still count?

See, the Lefties have been placing dead people on voting lists in Washington and California for years, and their vote is counted. :shrug:

I would assume so.
There was a story awhile back about an American woman who voted on her deathbed in the hospital, and died before the polls closed. Her vote was counted.

 

[Animal]

Alright, what about this: Say you're an Iraqi citizen, registered, and cast your vote, and on the way home some terrorist kills you, does your vote still count?

See, the Lefties have been placing dead people on voting lists in Washington and California for years, and their vote is counted. :shrug:

If you vote here and get killed in an auto accident on the way home it still counts, should be the same over there. Hell we've even had dead people win elections here.

 

[willie]

Did you hear on CNN that they are estimating 60-70 percent of the Iraqi population is voting, yet here in the U.S. only a mere fraction of Iraqis are voting for their country's future?

What I don't understand is that CNN also reports the huge number of Iraqis that don't want any part of Democracy and the high number of insurgents causing trouble. What figure is correct? Is the media feeding us BS? If there are 70% of the people that will vote, there has to be even more that want to but are afraid. If the percentage of "good" Iraqis is that high then they have to know who these bad guys are and where they live so why can't they handle the problem themselves? I can totally understand helping the underdog but they should not be the underdog at this point.

 

[FromTexas]

What I don't understand is that CNN also reports the huge number of Iraqis that don't want any part of Democracy and the high number of insurgents causing trouble. What figure is correct? Is the media feeding us BS? If there are 70% of the people that will vote, there has to be even more that want to but are afraid. If the percentage of "good" Iraqis is that high then they have to know who these bad guys are and where they live so why can't they handle the problem themselves? I can totally understand helping the underdog but they should not be the underdog at this point.

For years, under 30% of the Iraqi population kept the rest in check through terror/fear. :shrug:

 

[Penn]

What I don't understand is that CNN also reports the huge number of Iraqis that don't want any part of Democracy and the high number of insurgents causing trouble. What figure is correct? Is the media feeding us BS? If there are 70% of the people that will vote, there has to be even more that want to but are afraid. If the percentage of "good" Iraqis is that high then they have to know who these bad guys are and where they live so why can't they handle the problem themselves? I can totally understand helping the underdog but they should not be the underdog at this point.

For one reason or another, CNN seems to have it wrong; this wouldn't be the first time.

Second, is it possible that because the Iraqis had been under a repressive government for what, 30+ years that they might still be a little leery to voice their opinion? Heck, they got shot, maimed, killed and raped under Saddam's regime, and now they're getting the same treatment from insurgents coming from surrounding countries, who don't want this effort to succeed.

Our country has never had to endure that kind of terror, not in the past 250+ years, so maybe it is confusing to us to watch this.