02 February 2009 Big turnout for Iraqi provincial elections
 | | A voter
casts his ballot in Fallujah. (Photo:ASWAT AL-IRAQ.) |
Baghdad
– The vote for the provincial elections taking place in Iraq over the weekend saw a healthy turnout, due in large part to
the successful media and voter outreach strategies of the Iraqi election authorities.
“An important part of Iraq’s
preparation for the Provincial Elections was to let the voters know what their rights are and how and where the voting takes
place,” Paolo Lembo, UNDP’s country director for Iraq, said. “I am pleased that UNDP, together with our UN sister agencies,
contributed to the success of the Iraqi Provincial Elections,” he added.
The ballots, taking place in 14 of the
country’s 18 governorates on Saturday, saw a turnout of 51 percent, according to figures from the Iraqi Independent High Election
Commission (IHEC). There was no voting in the three provinces of the northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region, while it was
postponed in Kirkuk province. In total, more than 14,000 candidates ran for 440 seats on the provincial Councils.
 | | A woman casts her vote in Mosul. (Photo:ASWAT AL-IRAQ.)
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As part of the UN-led International Election Assistance Team (IEAT), UNDP supported the Iraqi
election authorities in establishing guidelines for media interactions during the vote. This included accreditation procedures,
guidelines enabling safe access to polling stations by journalists using electronic recording equipment, and a policy for
election officials at the governorate level to engage with the press and give interviews.
A number of tools were
developed to facilitate this, such as local language translations of UNESCO’s Guide to Reporting Elections, workshops with
media professionals and IHEC officials on the rights of journalists to cover the elections in safety, and a major information
campaign targeting journalists.
Last summer, over 50 media professionals and IHEC officials came together in Baghdad
to examine electoral procedures, and a nationwide campaign was launched to highlight the right of the media to report on the
elections safely.
“An independent and critical press informing the electorate is a prerequisite for a thriving
democracy, and part of UNDP’s support involved facilitating dialogue between election officials and media professionals on
their respective rights and responsibilities,” Lembo noted.
 | | Election day in Erbil. (Photo:ASWAT AL-IRAQ.) |
Specialists
from UNDP also assisted in raising public awareness of the Provincial Elections through innovative multimedia platforms. For
this election, the voter outreach campaigns featured YouTube infomercials, blogs, a new IHEC website (www.ihec.iq)
and a popular cartoon character teaching voters about the ballots.
The character, named Abu Mutar, appeared in
an animated banner on several internet sites, including Iraq’s most popular web-based e-mail service during December and January.
As the Iraqi Constitution mandates that at least 25 percent of the country’s elected officials should be women, the
UN development agency supported a grass-roots NGO and media campaign promoting women’s participation as candidates and voters.
The Provincial Elections marked the start of a series of popular ballots in Iraq this year, culminating in a parliamentary
vote this fall.
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