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Iraqi Election Commission Rejects Recount

   VOA News 21 March 2010

   The  Iraqi  election commission has rejected a request by Iraq's prime
   minister to recount votes from the March 7 election.
   The  commission said Sunday it would look into serious complaints, but
   would not review every ballot cast in the parliamentary election.
   Prime  Minister Nouri al-Maliki demanded a recount earlier in the day,
   warning  that  Iraq  could  return  to  violence if the votes were not
   checked.
   President  Jalal  Talabani echoed the prime minister's request Sunday,
   saying   votes   should   be   recounted   to   avoid   any  doubt  or
   misunderstanding about the election.
   On  Saturday,  the  election  commission  announced  that Mr. Maliki's
   alliance  is trailing the coalition of his closest rival by just 8,000
   votes.
   With  about  93  percent of the ballots counted, that puts the secular
   coalition led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in the lead.
   Mr.  Maliki  previously  defended  the election commission when he was
   ahead in the race.
   The  lead has repeatedly shifted between Mr. Allawi and Prime Minister
   Maliki since the March 7 vote.
   But  Mr.  Maliki's  State  of Law coalition is still ahead in seven of
   Iraq's  18  provinces, compared to five provinces held by Mr. Allawi's
   Iraqiya alliance.
   A Kurdish alliance leads in three other provinces.

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

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