2,674 in Stanislaus eligible to take part, but LA is closest site

Jan. 11. 05

By BLAIR CRADDOCK
BEE STAFF WRITER

Would you drive 320 miles to vote? Would you do it twice in a single month? Nahreen Toma of Ceres says she's willing to drive all the way to Los Angeles, twice this month, to register and vote for Iraq's new National Assembly.

"It's very important. We have to go and vote," said Toma, whose Assyrian Christian family came to the United States from Baghdad in the 1970s.

"I'm going to take my mom, and my dad, and my daughter Zalma, and my sister-in-law," said Toma, whose husband will go as well.

They're among thousands of Stanislaus County residents who might be eligible to vote in the Iraqi election.

Some 2,674 county residents listed Iraq as their place of birth in the 2000 census. They're not the only ones eligible to vote: U.S.-born children of Iraqi-born fathers can cast ballots, too.

"We're all planning to vote," said Zalma Toma, 21, who was born in the United States.

She said it's important, because "I want the Assyrian people to be safe in our homeland."

Assyrians, along with other Christian groups (Chaldeans and Syriacs), make up about 3 percent of Iraq's population.

"We are the least represented minority (in Iraq)," said Fred Isaac, a Modesto resident originally from Iraq who heads the local Assyrian Aid Society."That's why it's important for us to vote."

But it won't be easy. Just five U.S. cities - Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Nashville - have been chosen to host Iraqi out-of-country voting on Jan. 28-30.

That means the closest polling place for Central Valley residents is Los Angeles. And if they want to vote, they will have to travel - twice.

They'll have to register in person between Monday and Jan. 23. Registrants must bring at least two identification documents.

A five-day waiting period will follow, to allow inspection of voting rolls. Then, from Jan. 28-30, voters will go back to the polling sites to vote.

Ashur Shiba, 25, of Modesto, wondered if the inconvenient process would deter voters.

"It's really difficult to travel to L.A. twice in two weeks," said Shiba, a Chicago-born U.S. citizen whose father is from Iraq.

He said he plans to vote but is concerned that not everyone can take two days off from work.

Isaac said local Assyrian groups have been discussing whether to charter buses to and from the polling sites.

Toma said she'll vote, no matter how inconvenient it is.

"Whether it's one day or two days, I will take time off from my work and go," she said. "Even if it's 10 times, I'm going. And if there's no buses, I'll rent a van. I want to be there."

Information on Iraq's out-of-country voting is available online at www.iraqocv.org; or in English, Arabic or Kurdish at a toll-free voter information line, 800-916-8292.

* http://www.modbee.com/local/story/9750490p-10616657c.html