How voting for the new Iraqi Constitution will take place (overview)
A total of 15.5 million people are registered to vote in Iraq's referendum on 15 October, out of a population of 27 million. According to this data, issued by Iraq's Electoral Commission which is organizing the referendum, this is a larger electorate than that which voted in last January's ballot the first post-Saddam vote in which 14.3 million voters were registered. On 30 January, the turnout was of just under 60%, with 8.5 million people casting their ballot.
Voting operations will start at 7am and close at 5pm. Detainees and sick people in hospital already voted yesterday. In all, 6,200 polling stations have been set up.
A curfew from 10pm until 6am started yesterday and will go on until 16 October. As from today, circulation of cars and scooters and transport between provinces by unauthorized means are forbidden. Border crossings were closed yesterday and they will remain so until Monday; commercial flights to Baghdad's airport have been suspended throughout the same period. More than 100,000 Iraqi policemen and soldiers will be mobilised to provide security. If necessary, 160,000 soldiers of foreign forces, for the most part American, will give back-up.
There will be 500 international observers, among them members of the Arab League and the National Democratic Institute of the United States. The Electoral Commission expects to announce the first results within five days of the vote.
If the "yes" faction wins, the Constitution will be ratified and political elections for parliament with full powers and a four-year mandate will be held by not later than 15 December. According to the interim Constitution, the new government must be in place by 31 December. If the "no" faction triumphs, then parliament will be dissolved and another administration would need to be elected by 15 December. This interim parliament would have the task of drafting a new bill to submit to another referendum in October 2006. A simple majority is enough for the Constitution to be approved, while a two-thirds majority of votes against in at least three out of 18 provinces is necessary to reject it. The Sunnites, including a faction against the Constitution, hold the majority in three provinces.
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