LOC18:25
15:25 GMT
BAGHDAD, May 8 (KUNA) -- Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI)
affirmed on Saturday that there was no systematic rigging in the country's
March legislative polls as 90 percent of the ballots have been manually
recounted.
The recount is unlikely to change the original results of the polls
dramatically, IECI senior official Karim Al-Tamimi told reporters at the
ballot recount center at Al-Rashid Hotel here.
"The 90 percent of the ballots of Baghdad governorates which have been
manually recounted show that the irregularities are very minor and can by no
means be deemed as routine rigging," Al-Tamimi said.
"The recount process goes on smoothly and will not have dramatic impact on
the previously announced results," he affirmed.
Al-Tamimi attributed what he called "very minor mistakes" to omission by
election staffers and monitors who had been overburdened with long hours of
consecutive work.
He noted that all local and international election monitors agreed that the
recount would not change the original final results.
Hitting back at political parties which cast doubt on the work of his
commission, Al-Tamimi said the IECI would sue anybody who tried to defame it
via mass media.
He recommended taking any possible appeals against his commission to courts
in order to solve any disputes through legal means. (end)
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