Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Early Results Show Iraqi PM's Coalition Leading in Elections

   VOA News 11 March 2010
   An Electoral worker empties a ballot box to begin counting the results
   at a counting center in Baghdad, 09 Mar 2010

Photo: AP

   An Electoral worker empties a ballot box to begin counting the results
   at a counting center in Baghdad, 09 Mar 2010

   Iraqi  officials  say  early  preliminary  results give Prime Minister
   Nouri   al-Maliki's   State  of  Law  coalition  a  lead  in  Sunday's
   parliamentary elections.
   Election officials released their first partial results Thursday.
   The  early tallies show the prime minister's coalition is ahead in the
   predominantly Shi'ite southern provinces of Najaf and Babil.
   The  results  show  the  Shi'ite  Iraqi National Alliance is in second
   place,  while  the secular coalition led by former Prime Minister Iyad
   Allawi trails in both provinces.
   Officials  had  said they would make the results known once 30 percent
   of  votes  cast  have been counted.  They had initially indicated they
   planned to release the findings as early as Wednesday.
   Voting   irregularities   may  have  caused  delays  at  some  polling
   stations.   Some  voters  had to cast provisional ballots Sunday after
   discovering  their  names  were  not  on  the  election rolls at their
   designated voting stations.
   Also,  Iraq's Accountability and Justice Commission has moved to annul
   the  votes for 55 candidates.  The commission says the candidates have
   ties to outlawed political parties.
   Iraqi  officials plan to release final results for all 18 provinces by
   the end of the month.
   More than 6,000 candidates from parties and coalitions competed in the
   election.   No single faction is expected to win an outright majority,
   and building a coalition to form a new government could take months.
   Meanwhile, Prime Minister Maliki's office says he underwent surgery in
   Baghdad Wednesday.  The office released a statement Thursday that does
   not  specify  the  procedure,  but  says the prime minister is in good
   health and has left the hospital.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

.