Safety First for Iraqis in the North West!
January 20, 2005 4:37 AM
"Iraqis who register to vote in Manchester for the Iraqi National Assembly elections could be putting their lives at risk unless they are able to withhold their names from the electoral register available to all voters" says senior Manchester Liberal Democrat City Councillor Jackie Pearcey.
Councillor Pearcey added "Reports suggest that only around 350 Iraqis have so far registered to vote in their National Assembly elections at the end of January out of a community of 75,000 in the North of England. The level of violence surrounding the preparations for the elections in Iraq itself looks like it has led members of the Iraqi community here to fear that they are putting themselves, and their families in Iraq, in great danger if they put their names on public display in the electoral register."
Councillor Pearcey will call tomorrow (Wednesday 19th January 2005) at Manchester City Council's top-level Executive meeting for Iraqis living in the North of England to be given the same right to have their name edited out of the public version of the Electoral Register that is available to all voters as exists for British voters in our elections.
A report to the Executive Committee outlines the role that Manchester City Council Officers are playing in advising Election staff from the International Organisation for Migration who are organising voting for the Iraqi National Assembly in Manchester. Manchester is one of only three voting centres, alongside London and Glasgow, in the UK.
Councillor Jackie Pearcey said "In Britain the right of a voter to withhold their name from the publicly available electoral register is largely used to avoid junk mail being sent by companies who buy the register for commercial purposes. For the Iraqi elections this right could mean the difference between life and death as violent factions try to disrupt the elections and settle scores with supporters of other political groups. I hope that our City Council Election Officials will suggest and secure the right to withhold for the sake of the safety of Iraqis in Manchester and across the North of England!"
ENDS
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