The voting at this time is to elect members of the 'Iraq's National Assembly' only. Two hundred and some political parities of all walks of life will be participating in these elections. Each party has submitted at least eleven candidates as its slate.
Voters have to vote for only one political party. ballots marked for more than one party will not be counted.

Among the two hundred some slates the following two factions are of major interest to the Assyrians.

# 139 al-tajama al-Vatani Ashuri. (Assyrian National Gathering (Assembly)

This slate promtoes the name Assyrian only

 
#204 Zowaa under the name of al-Rafidean

This is dedicated to promoting the combined name ChaldoAssyrian.

One western article states that the christian parties have split into two (bet Nahrin) - The National Rafidayn List and the Two Rivers Coalition - differ because of dispute over the nominated candidates appearing on the list. But their manifesto is essentially the same, focusing on safeguarding the rights of minorities, including the Chaldeans and Assyrians. Their campaign has also underlined the importance of teaching the Assyrian language, which is spoken by about one million Iraqi Christians living in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk. The Al-Tajama al-Vatani Ashuri is in conflict wth Zowaa or (al-Rafidayn) over the compound name issue.

Each party will win representatives according to the number of votes it gets. Those who get insufficient votes may not win at all.

Voting and Registration will take place in Los Angeles and orange country. Californians from other cities including : Turlock, Modesto, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose and Assyrians living in Arizona have to travel to La and Orange County to register first and vote on ohter dates:

Registration and voting have to take place in-person by the applicant voter. It is not possible to do it by mail or proxy.

Voters have to register first.

Dates of registration:

Monday, January 17
Tuesday, January 18
Wednesday, January 19

Applicants need to save their registration paper to present it at the time of voting at the same center on one of these voting days.

Dates of Voting:

Friday, January 28
Saturday, January 29
Sunday, January 30

"VOTER ELIGIBILITY"

Applicant must show any of the following official documents,to prove Iraqi birth or citizenship.

Birth in Iraq
In order to prove Iraqi nationality, applicants must present a document or documents issued by state, state agency, international institution or organisations such as the International Red Cross, which fulfil one of the following:

3.1 Birth in Iraq
Applicants must present a document which lists place of birth as in Iraq.
Or
3.2 Current or previous citizenship of Iraq
Applicants must present a document which lists citizenship or nationality.
Or
3.3 Birth to father of Iraqi nationality
Applicants must present a document or documents which show parental link plus father's nationality as Iraqi. The father's Registration Receipt may be accepted as proof of father's nationality.

The following documents issued by the Iraqi government can also prove nationality.

* Personal identity card
* Retirement identity card
* Iraqi nationality book - 1957
* Nationality certificate
* Iraqi passport
* Military service book

Or

one of the following in combination with any other official Iraqi issued document. This includes any document issued by Iraqi state or state agencies, including educational, health and cultural state bodies.

* Marriage contract
* Official study certificate issued by an official Iraqi university
* Deed of property.

In these cases, a total of three documents of this type will need to be presented.

Important information to remember for registration!

* Only Persons who can present at least two documents which prove their eligibility will be allowed to register. Bring all your documents!
* Voters must register with Iraq OCV to be able to vote in the Iraq OCV Program
* A person may register only once and must register in person at a Registration Station.

The Applicant must prove present identity by:
1-Driver license
2- Identity card with picture

There will be three to four registration and polling places in Los Angeles and the Orange County areas.
Assyrians living in Turlock, Modesto, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. and other areas will have to travel to their nearest registration and voting center in Los Angels or orange county to participate in the upcoming National Assembly Election.

It may be necessary for the Assyrian organizations in these cities to arrange bus travel back and fort to the people interested to participate in voting.

There should also be a mass-emailing campaign to both the "Iraq Out-of-Country Voting program" and the "International Organization for Migration" complaining about lack of registration or voting centers for places such as Turlock, Modesto, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose where up to 35,000-40,000 Assyrians live who will not have a chance to anticipate in these elections.

Visit the following sites for further information:

http://www.iraqocv.org/