Iraq election registrations

[AGDee]

I first heard about this when they chose a nearby warehouse type location for out of country Iraqi voter registration and it will be a polling place as well. Apparently, numerous Americans will be eligible to vote in the Iraq election. Here are the requirements:

The seven-day registration period ends Sunday. Voting will begin Jan. 28 and continue until the Jan. 30 election in Iraq. Voter registration is open to those 18 and older who are present or former Iraqi citizens, those who were born in Iraq and those whose fathers are Iraqi.

Now, I do understand that Iraqi refugees and citizens should be able to vote from a remote location (like we can, with absentee ballots), but it seems they're pushing it a little far with "those who fathers are Iraqi". So, you could have a 50 year old person who was born in the US and has no current connections with Iraq voting in this election only because his/her father was from Iraq.

These voter registrations are happening all over the U.S., Canada, England, and the rest of the world. It seems to me that it's setting up the elections to be questioned and doubted because over 90,000 people in the US are eligible to vote in this election. I have read a few articles about it so far and found this one to be particularly interesting.

the link

What do others think?

Dee

[Taualumna]

I'm wondering if Iraqi citizenship is passed down by blood. I heard a story of a young Korean American man who knew nothing of Korea and couldn't speak the language, but was drafted for the South Korean military when he was visiting relatives. South Korea considered the young man a Korean citizen because his father was born there.

Hmmm...

[PM_Mama00]

http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61866

Hey Dee I posted a few days ago and was surprised I got no responses!

Anyways, what do I think? As a resident of Southgate (they're using the old HQ on Northline) I AM PISSED. They should have sent out a memo to the city residents to let them know. How did we find out? Cuz we saw the 3 helicopters flying around the other day and kept glued to the news to find out. Southgate's Police Chief (or Luitenant?) lives across the street from me (his wife used to be our mayor) and he didn't say anything. We live relatively close to HQ... about walking distance.

This is inconvenient on both sides.

Residents:
-Have you ever driven down Northline before, during, or after rush hour? It's a gridlock because of 75. Add 150,000 people (which is what is expected) in 3 days to this... well you can forget about going anywhere on Northline in Southgate or Taylor. Add Eureka to that too because if people aren't using Northline, they'll use Eureka.

-Southgate isn't exactly a large city, so is it equipped to handle 150,000 extra people?

-Hello. And welcome to Southgate, newest Terrorist target. Grrrrreat!

Iraqi-Americans
-Dearborn is 20 minutes away, add all that traffic and it becomes like an hour. Southgate isn't exactly in the middle of the friggin Midwest of the USA... which this voting site is catering to.

-Dearborn= most Arab populated city in the US. So, why not have it there?

-They get to vote. But do you see the lines are our LOCAL voting stations for elections? 150,000 people, divided by 3 days, equals 50,000 people per day. Wow. Those lines are gona SUCK.

My idea? They should have had it in like a farmish area closer to the Southern-middle of the state.

They decided against Ford Field in Detroit because if something happened, it would disturb the city. Well, just shit on Downriver A LITTLE MORE. Because if something happened, we'll just put on our hunting gear and pull out the rifles right? Our city will be calm.

If you were wondering, I'm quite pissed off.

eta: Sorry, Dee. I didn't read your whole post. I was just so angered as soon as I realized what it was about that I went off. This situation does not please me.

[LexiKD]

My Mother is German and Father Greek, if I applied for dual citizenship I could vote there...
I think the reason is many immigrants move and come back and want the option to raise their families in their old country or their families end up moving back to the country of origin.
That's my idea.

[AGDee]

I didn't see your original post, Phyllis or I would have responded. My original reactions were similar to yours, although we've been hearing different numbers apparently. I wonder if they even know how many will end up eligible? I have considered the implications of being a target for terror as well as the drain on the area resources. According to the Detroit Free Press, Chaldeans in Oakland and Macomb counties are angry that the polling place is in Wayne County! It does seem like it would make more sense to do it in Dearborn. I think they had a hard time finding a location. The HQ is a county owned building that is sitting empty and I don't know that there are many of those around. The logistics of WHERE to do it are complex and are a concern to me too.

I think the larger political implications could hurt in the long run too though. What if more Americans vote in this election than any other group? Will the results be considered valid by Iraqis in Iraq or will we just be seen as controlling their election, after invading their country? Are some of the Iraqis who will vote here even aware of how things are there now? Those are the questions that run through my head, along with an added fear of violence so close to home because of the elections. We will be breathing a sigh of relief when it's done. I agree.

Dee

[moe.ron]

Another thing to consider, do people actually know who is running? From what I've herd in Iraq, very few people know who the candidates are. Many party have refuse to release the name of their candidate due to safety reason. One can certainly sympathyze (sp?) with that, however, how can one know what the party stand for when the individuals aren't even known. Sorry for the babling, I hope for the best.