By Chris Metinko

Dec. 09, 2005

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

PLEASANTON - Normally associated more with hot rods, corn dogs and boat shows than with the spread of world democracy, the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton will play a small role in the future of Iraq's emerging new government.

The fairgrounds have been chosen as an official Iraqi polling location for the upcoming election for a new Council of Representatives in that country. It will be one of only three such polling locations in the state; the others are Los Angeles and El Cajon, near San Diego.

Voting will take place Tuesday through Thursday of next week, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day.

The December election is being organized and conducted by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which oversaw Transitional National Assembly elections in January and the referendum on a draft constitution in July. The polls are run in accordance with international electoral standards.

Nazar Al Quraishi, the Northern California representative for the IECI, said the fairgrounds was chosen because of its size, ideal location and easy access.

"We were originally looking for something in San Francisco," Al Quraishi said. "But then we decided Pleasanton was a better center point for everyone. (For) people from San Jose and San Francisco, Pleasanton is in the middle. Plus it's easy to get to, right off (interstates) 580 and 680, and it's very big. Lots of parking."

Al Quraishi said his group estimates there are about 25,000 Iraqis and Iraqi-Americans living in the Bay Area. He said the IECI is expecting between 3,000 and 5,000 Iraqis and Iraqi-Americans to cast ballots in Pleasanton.

Hazem Garawi, administrator in Los Angeles for the IECI in California, said the election is open to those who can verify they were born in Iraq or whose parents were born in Iraq. Proof, such as passports or birth certificates, will be required, Garawi said.

Members of the new Council of Representatives will be elected to four-year terms. All told, more than 300 political parties and coalitions are registered to vie for the 275 open seats on the council.

This marks the first time any site in Northern California has been chosen for an Iraqi election. Al Quraishi said the only California polling places for the prior two elections were in the southern half of the state.

"Obviously, that made it very difficult for people here to vote," Al Quraishi said. "This is much better."

Ashur Yoseph, 48, of Concord agreed. Last January, he and his father went down to Southern California twice -- once to register and once to vote. It was not a process he wished to repeat.

"I don't think it was the right thing to do," Yoseph said of failure to set up a polling place in Northern California for the previous elections. He said he and others in his community -- he is a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement -- put pressure on the IECI, the United Nations and both the United States and Iraqi governments to do so.

Yoseph said he believes Pleasanton's relative nearness to Turlock and Modesto, with their large Iraqi and Iraqi American communities, will also be a big help.

"These elections are important to us Iraqis," Yoseph said. "These elections will give us the actual government of Iraq. These will be the officials who deal with the eventual pullout of U.S. troops."

Fairgrounds spokeswoman April Mitchell said there are no undue concerns about security during the voting, and that regular fairgrounds security measures will be in effect. Rehearsals for the voting process at the Pleasanton fairgrounds are expected to take place Monday.

For more information about the elections, call 1-877-IRAQ-YES or visit iraqvote.or