WP- Iraq Faces Hurdles On Details Of Election (over 200 names/parties) [View All]

About 200 Names Likely To Appear on Ballot
By Walter Pincus and Anthony Shadid
Tuesday, November 30, 2004; Page A12

The ballot for the Iraqi elections scheduled for Jan. 30 may list about 200 parties or individuals, each identified on a line with a name and a logo, but each voter will have a single vote to cast.

Fitting all those names and logos on a one-page ballot is only one of myriad practical problems facing Iraqi and U.S. officials as they plan the election of 275 members to a new National Assembly, who will draft the country's constitution and elect an interim president.
Although most public attention has focused on whether Sunni parties will participate and whether the country will be secured enough for registration and voting to take place, the nine-member Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has been working with U.N. experts to determine how the election will be carried out.

As of last week, 156 parties and individuals had registered to take part in the election, and in all, there will probably be about 220, according to Hussain Hindawi, chairman of the electoral commission, which was selected by U.N. specialists. Each registrant has to provide a logo or symbol by which illiterate voters can identify them.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20660-2004Nov29.html