Iraqi Food Shoppers Are Plied With Voter Forms

Election officials on Monday launched an aggressive voter registration program to prepare for January’s balloting, handing out forms to Iraqis at markets across this war-torn nation.

Officials began distributing about 14 million forms to people who turned in their food-ration cards for subsidized baskets of rice, flour, tea and other staples.

Officials reported that the registration process began without incident and that there were no reports of violence.

“Everything is going as scheduled,” said Fareed Ayar, a spokesman for the Iraqi Electoral Commission.

“We’ve made it a very simple process.”

In the coming weeks, nearly 6,000 electoral employees will fan out to more than 600 markets and food-ration agents nationwide, answering questions and encouraging Iraqis to verify their names, addresses and other personal information on the forms.

If Iraqis do not return the forms, officials will assume their personal information is accurate. The deadline for submitting corrections is Dec. 15.

Despite assurances by election officials, the first day generated some confusion.

Several Baghdad market owners reported that they had not yet received the registration forms, and would-be voters were asked to collect them later this week.

One merchant said he received the forms but did not know how to distribute them. Others seemed to be uncertain whether they were distributing personalized registration forms or general voter-education materials.

“This is a new practice and things are not clear to people,” said Jamal Rubaii, 56, who issues the food-ration cards in the Jihad district of Baghdad. “They should do more to educate people so everybody will participate. Right now, people are holding back. They are confused and afraid.”

Election officials have launched voter-education campaigns across the country, distributing brochures in schools, hospitals and other public places. U.S. and United Nations officials hope to employ the food-ration cards -- which are already used as identification for passports and marriage licenses -- to build a voter roll for the election.

Some residents said they remained wary about the process, particularly amid renewed threats against Iraqis who participate in the election.

On an Islamist website, Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Zarqawi warned that any Iraqis involved in the vote “will feel our sword slaughter their head.”

In the northern city of Mosul, election workers said they were threatened for passing out educational materials. “Of course there is fear,” said Rifat Adnan, 35, who was hired to help register voters.

Potential voters said they were also fearful that militants might launch election-day attacks.

“I haven’t decided yet if I will vote,” said Salwan Hussam, 60, a retired police officer. “The main problem is the security. Will it be safe to vote or will I be killed by somebody on the way there? I would never allow my wife or my sons to go to the election center because of the risk.”

Others said the election should not take place while U.S. troops remain in Iraq.

“I will not participate in this election,” said Samir Nawzad, 64, a bus driver in Baghdad. “Nothing is legitimate under occupation.”

One store owner said he would refuse to distribute registration forms to his customers to protest the presence of American troops.

But several people said they were looking forward to exercising their right to vote.

“It’s the duty of every good Iraqi citizen to participate,” said Anwar Hussan, 45, who owns a market in Baghdad. “We should seize this opportunity to impose the will of the people on everyone.”

In Shiite Muslim areas, the registration process was given a boost recently when Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, took the unusual step of ordering his followers to verify their names and return corrected forms.

Baghdad homemaker Hiffa Salem, 45, left the grocery store Monday without a new registration form. She was unsure whether she would vote.

“I can’t choose anyone from the government because they are cooperating with the occupation,” Salem said.

“I can’t choose groups that support violence because we need peace. I want to give my vote to the real representatives of the Iraqi people. But who and where are they? I don’t know,” she added.

Special correspondents Caesar Ahmed and Saif Rasheed in Baghdad and Roaa Ahmed in Mosul contributed to this report.