One fifth of Iraqis in Australia registered to vote
26/1/2005 16:53
Nearly 12,000 Iraqis have been registered to vote in Australia in
elections for Iraqi national assembly at this weekend, representing about one
fifth of the Iraqi community in Australia.
Iraqis in Australia have to travel
to Sydney, capital of the state of New South Wales, and Melbourne, capital of
the state of Victoria to vote Wednesday.
Polling will start at booths in the
two cities at 7:00 local time on Friday(20:00 GMT on Thursday) and will end at
17:00 (6:00 GMT) on Sunday.
Bernie Hogan, the Australian head of the Iraq
out-of-country voting program, said the final count at the close of
registrations was 11,806, including 8,338 in Sydney and 3,468 in
Melbourne.
He said security will be tight around the polling stations, adding
"We are still going to maintain the same security as we had through
registration," which included metal detectors and handbag
searches.
Xinhua
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