Recount Demanded for Tight Election in Iraq

In the election for the Iraqi president the numbers were so close that the current president of Iraq asked for a recount of the ballets Sunday, March 21, 2010. The entire race between the former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi has been very close. Accusations of fraud have been made against both of these major challengers with many votes not being counted and discarded. For this reason , as of Sunday the next Iraqi president is very unclear.

With word of these allegations, the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, demanded a recount, after he was quiet certain he had the backing of the Prime Minister. There are many doubts about the counted votes, and the president and prime minister just want to be certain that the election is fair so the country can maintain political stability.

Recounts in elections are very common, especially in close races. Humans and machines can make errors, and with a recount can help to catch those errors made the first time—whether accidental errors or fraud. In this case, the Iraqi election may have both.

When a recount does occur, it is very often that human errors occur that will affect the election tally. Simple errors occur such as reading a ballet wrong or even machine errors. These simple errors occur in every election, but they only will make a large difference if the election is close.

For this reason, is some countries recounts are mandatory if the election was close, while in others it may be optional. In the Iraq election it is optional. First the Iraq Commissions denied the recount, but the president and prime minister overruled them this time and demanded for a recount. In many of the provinces only one third of the votes were counted, plus there is speculation about some votes being thrown out.

Aside from the speculations of fraud and errors, this is a very important election for Iraq, so the Iraqi president wants to make sure the correct person is elected in his place. The president elected for this term will be in office when the US troops make their withdrawal, and he will have to maintain stability within the country and limit violence. The best way to start this out is by having a fair, stable political campaign and election. As of now, the final candidate for the Iraqi president will not be officially announced for a few weeks.