Christian Slate Garners Most Votes from U.S. Iraq Expats
A slate of Assyrian and Chaldean Christians drew in the most votes from Iraqi expatriates in the United States who had earlier expressed doubts over Christian representation in the new parliament.
With some having traveled hundreds of miles to cast their votes at one of seven polling stations, unofficial results show a narrow Christian defeat over the Shiite party. The National Rafidain List, whose base support come from Iraqi Christians, garnered 26 percent of the vote while the United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite Muslim coalition, received 25 percent, according to elections coordinator Talal Ibrahim.
Last week's parliamentary vote marks a turnaround from the January election when the Shiite party received more votes over the Christian party, 32 to 29 percent.
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Churches in the U.S. had promoted the December election, rallying support for greater Christian representation in the full-term parliament. The recent election saw a 10 percent increase in participation compared to the first round of voting in the U.S. A total of 26,793 valid votes were cast, said Ibrahim, according to The Associated Press.
Following behind the Shiite party was the Kurdish Alliance with 16 percent; a secular slate, the National Iraqi List, led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi with 13 percent; and another primarily Christian slate, the Al Nahrain National List, with 12 percent.
All other parties received no more than 1 percent of the U.S. vote.
In McLean, Va., one of the U.S. polling sites, the Kurdish Alliance List garnered 48 percent with 977 votes; United Iraqi Alliance, 23 percent; the National Iraqi List, 12 percent; and Tawafoq Iraqi Front, a Sunni Muslim coalition, 4 percent.
Final election results will not be expected until early January.
