US embassy cable - 05AMMAN468

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 000468 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2015 
TAGS: KDEM, PREL, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING OFF TO SLOW START 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 342 
 
     B. AMMAN 293 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (SBU) Out-of-country (OCV) voter registration for Iraqis 
in Jordan has to date proceeded smoothly.  Registration sites 
have had ample security and more than adequate staff to 
register voters and answer questions.  Turnout, however, has 
been low, with only 710 Iraqis (out of an estimated 200,000 
eligible voters in Jordan) registering on the first day of 
the week-long registration period.  Special registration 
procedures have been approved by the Independent Electoral 
Commission for Iraq (IECI) for Iraqi police cadets in Jordan 
for training, but the names of new police trainees scheduled 
to arrive next week are needed by the IECI as soon as 
possible if they are to be allowed to vote.  The 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) is continuing 
its voter outreach efforts and has established a 24-hour 
phone bank and operations center at the OCV headquarters in 
Amman to handle inquiries from around the world and to 
diffuse potential problems.  IOM officials acknowledge that 
frustration among Iraqis over the lack of information on 
candidates may be dissuading some from registering.  End 
Summary. 
 
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OCV CENTERS OPEN AND RUNNING 
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2.  (U) PolOff paid an unannounced visit January 17, the 
first day of voter registration for Iraqis, to three of the 
eight OCV centers in Amman, located in schools.  Security was 
good.  At each location there were a half-dozen uniformed 
military guards patrolling the school perimeter while 
numerous contract security personnel (including women) 
staffed the entrance and interior.  All persons wishing to 
enter for any reason were required to undergo a metal 
detector sweep.  Each center was headed by a helpful and 
well-informed director, aided by a "manager" for each room 
containing multiple registration tables.  All non-security 
staff were Iraqi.  The center in the upscale Sweifiya 
neighborhood had eight registration rooms with four tables 
each, while the other two centers visited had twelve rooms. 
(NOTE: The largest center in Amman has sixteen registration 
rooms.  End note.) 
 
3.  (C) The directors of all three centers reported no 
problems, though a few registrants were turned away because 
they could present only an Iraqi passport without the 
required second form of identification.  All the directors 
noted, however, that turnout was lower than they had 
expected.  PolOff observed the most activity (and the most 
stylishly-dressed registrants) at the center in Sweifiya. 
The director of this center told PolOff that "about 100" 
persons had come to register as of 3:00 PM, adding that she 
believed this was higher than the number of registrants at 
most other centers.  She speculated that Iraqis in this 
well-to-do area were more inclined to vote as they tended to 
be more educated and had no concerns about their residency 
status in Jordan.  In contrast, a center in poorer East Amman 
reported only about 45 registrants two hours before closing 
for the day. 
 
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IOM OFFICIALS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC 
----------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) PolOff met January 18 with Richard Scott (OCV project 
manager) and Monique DeGroot (OCV director for external 
relations) at the IOM's OCV headquarters in Amman to discuss 
the voter registration process.  They said there had been no 
major problems in Jordan (or in any of the other 14 
participating countries) and commented that they were 
generally pleased with the over 1,000 local Iraqis they had 
hired to staff the registration centers.  According to Scott, 
the GOJ agreed to allow the IOM to hire Iraqis for these jobs 
without possessing a valid Jordanian work permit.  Security 
was by far the IOM's biggest concern, followed by possible 
vote fraud, which had prompted a crash course for all 
registration personnel in detecting altered documents.  Scott 
and DeGroot acknowledged that there were rumors that some 
former Baathists had "infiltrated" the OCV workforce to 
intimidate prospective voters, but firmly stated that any 
employee found making threats or disrupting operations would 
be dismissed immediately.  (NOTE:  Despite this demurral, one 
Iraqi source within IOM's management told us privately that 
some apparent infiltrators have already been uncovered and 
dismissed.  End note.) 
 
5.  (SBU) When asked about registration turnout, Scott and 
DeGroot were careful not to make any predictions, but 
expressed hope that the small numbers of registrants seen 
January 17 in Jordan would increase later in the week. 
Official registration counts - for Jordan and all other OCV 
countries - would be made available via the OCV website or a 
press announcement following endorsement of the figures by 
the IECI.  (NOTE: DeGroot confirmed to PolOff on January 19 
that only 710 Iraqis in Jordan had registered on January 17. 
OCV registration in Jordan for January 18 rose to 1,192.  End 
note.) 
 
6.  (SBU) DeGroot explained that the IOM was continuing its 
voter education and outreach campaign to boost participation 
using radio and television advertisements, newspaper 
announcements, and public banners.  Locally-hired Iraqis were 
also holding community meetings to publicize the elections, 
though DeGroot was unable to estimate how many Iraqis in 
Jordan had attended such meetings.  To handle telephone 
inquiries from around the world, the IOM has set up a 
centralized 24-hour phone bank in Amman, which had to be 
expanded to accommodate the over 1,200 telephone calls 
received each day.  An operations center staffed around the 
clock with 25 IOM employees is also housed at the OCV 
headquarters in Amman to quickly address questions and 
potential problems flagged by OCV staff worldwide via secure 
e-mail. 
 
7.  (C) Turning to the issue of candidate information, Scott 
said that he was not sure when the IECI would provide IOM 
with a list of candidates for distribution.  Currently at 
registration centers Iraqis were only provided with a flyer 
on "political entities" in Iraq.  Both Scott and DeGroot 
acknowledged that frustration among Iraqis caused by the lack 
of candidate information may be a factor in dissuading some 
from registering. 
 
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IRAQI POLICE TRAINEES IN JORDAN 
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8.  (SBU) During the January 18 meeting, IOM employees 
explained to PolOff that special registration procedures had 
been established for Iraqi police cadets being trained at the 
INL-funded Jordan International Police Training Center 
(JIPTC) outside Amman.  Since most of these cadets apparently 
do not have the necessary identification documents to 
register, the IECI directed the IOM to send them the names 
and available biographic data for the current class of 
approximately 1,500 cadets, to be vetted and approved in 
Baghdad.  While this has been successfully accomplished for 
the cadets currently at JIPTC, allowing all of them to vote, 
the IOM has not been able to obtain and send to the IECI 
information on the new class of cadets due to arrive at JIPTC 
next week.  The IOM is concerned that if they do not receive 
this information shortly, the IECI may not have sufficient 
time to authorize the incoming police trainees to vote in 
Jordan. 
 
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COMMENT 
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9.  (C) The number of Iraqis who have so far registered in 
Jordan has been, in DeGroot's own words, "disappointing." 
The IOM hopes the figures will rise as positive word-of-mouth 
spreads within the Iraqi community and Iraqi workers are 
given time off from their jobs during the long Eid Al Adha 
holiday (January 19-23).  Press and anecdotal reports 
indicate that there is widespread general interest in the 
election among Iraqis here, and little support for an 
election boycott.  Despite this environment, three factors 
may be slowing registration.  First, the majority of 
potential Iraqi voters here either entered or have remained 
in Jordan without authorization; we are hearing that many of 
them are fearful that registering may expose them to possible 
punitive action, such as demands for stiff fines, or 
deportation by GOJ officials.  While the MOU signed between 
the IOM and Jordan provides that the GOJ will take no such 
action, the IOM's radio and TV ads do not make this point 
(though it is made in IOM press releases and community 
meetings).  Second, there are rumors within the Iraqi 
community that those who register are being "watched" by 
pro-insurgent elements (including alleged infiltrators among 
the registration staff) and could be targeted for possible 
retribution.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, many of 
our Iraqi contacts (including political candidates who have 
visited Amman) contend that overall voter education and 
understanding of the larger political process remains 
extremely poor.  According to these sources and press 
reports, many local Iraqis are frustrated at the lack of 
information on the candidates, are not sure what the election 
is all about, and do not know who to vote for. 
MINIMIZE CONSIDERED 
HALE