Iraqi PM Demands Election Re-Count

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Iraq’s high electoral commission to do a manual recount of votes.
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Iraqi PM Demands Election Re-Count
A combo of file pictures shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) delivering a speech in Bhagdad on August 12, 2007 and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (R), on February 11, 2009 in the southern city of Najaf some 160kms from Baghdad. al-Maliki on Sunday called for a re-count of parliamentary election votes. A 90 percent vote tally showed him slightly behind Iyad Allawi. AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/IRAQ-WEB.jpg" alt="A combo of file pictures shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) delivering a speech in Bhagdad on August 12, 2007 and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (R), on February 11, 2009 in the southern city of Najaf some 160kms from Baghdad. al-Maliki on Sunday called for a re-count of parliamentary election votes. A 90 percent vote tally showed him slightly behind Iyad Allawi. AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)" title="A combo of file pictures shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) delivering a speech in Bhagdad on August 12, 2007 and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (R), on February 11, 2009 in the southern city of Najaf some 160kms from Baghdad. al-Maliki on Sunday called for a re-count of parliamentary election votes. A 90 percent vote tally showed him slightly behind Iyad Allawi. AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1821873"/></a>
A combo of file pictures shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) delivering a speech in Bhagdad on August 12, 2007 and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (R), on February 11, 2009 in the southern city of Najaf some 160kms from Baghdad. al-Maliki on Sunday called for a re-count of parliamentary election votes. A 90 percent vote tally showed him slightly behind Iyad Allawi. AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)
Under allegations of irregularities, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday called on Iraq’s high electoral commission to do a manual recount of votes from the March 7 parliamentary election.

The commission dismissed the call citing the lack of a formal request. The commission chief also said a full, manual re-count of 12 million-13 million votes would take too long, but that candidates could request re-counts if error is suspected in certain areas.

With over 90 percent of the votes now counted, al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition is slightly behind the Iraqiya bloc headed by former prime minister, Iyad Allawi, according to Aljazeera.net. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, endorsed al-Maliki’s request for a manual re-count in a number of provinces on his Web site, in order to preclude “any confusion or doubt.”