Get Out The Vote

Members of the PRT estimate there are 152 political parties competing for election in Baghdad province. And in yet another delay, the general election in Iraq is now rumored to be pushed back until February of 2009. According to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the Iraqi voting database was flooded by recent rainfall. "...we are working rapidly to replace this critical infrastructure," assured one of their representatives. I'm guessing this means they're buying new computers?

Coalition Forces currently monitor the political wonderland in Iraq through an ad hoc meeting between international military, State Departments, and NGOs. Discussions are held around a massive wood table in a high ceilinged room--adorned by eggshell paneling and gold trim. Heavy green drapes were drawn from one window, revealing a neat stack of sandbags so high that the view was limited to only the fingertips of a dead tree.

Meetings like the Embassy Election Working Group confirm the permanence of Baghdad's seachange. The agenda consisted of Q and As about the political situation, timeline of elections, public outreach, and security. Hearing security discussed last and considering the topic of the meeting was a complete fiction only years ago it's clear that Iraq is maturing into something new. A representative of an active NGO involved in training political parties mentioned that now "we spend a lot of our time just trying to get them [Iraqi candidates] to go out and talk to voters... they couldn't really do this in 2005, then in 2006 they were against it..."

In the room I counted 15 military and 14 civilians. So the teams felt evenly matched. The co-chair of the meeting (USAFA, c/o '81) mentioned his staff was waiting on information concerning UN guidelines on soldiers staying away from polling centers--which conflicted with local Iraqi requests for American soldiers to "'show the flag' so to speak." At this point USAID and IFES exchanged a furtive glance.