64% Iraqis want to vote - poll

2005-01-30 11:31

Baghdad - A poll released on the eve of Iraq's historic vote said on Saturday 63.8% of Iraqis were likely to vote despite the volatile security in the country.

The poll by the Washington-based International Republican Institute also indicated an overwhelming number of Shiites and Kurds would vote, while close to 50% of the country's troubled Sunni minority might cast a ballot.

The campaign for Sunday's vote has been marked by enormous insurgent pressure on the population to reject the election.

But 76 percent of Shiites said they planned to vote and 66.2%of Kurds. In the Sunni sector, 28.2% of all Sunnis said they were "somewhat likely" to vote and another 21.5% said they were "very likely".

In Saddam Hussein's former hometown of Tikrit, 30.6% of respondents said they were unlikely to vote and 24% said they were somewhat unlikely; only 14.9% said they were likely to vote, and 23.1% said they were somewhat likely.

In the insurgency-plagued city of Baquba, the poll showed 51.2% somewhat likely to vote and 9.4% very likely to cast ballots.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was viewed by 61% of the voters as somewhat or very effective.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points and was conducted from January 13-24.

No respondents were questioned in the restive provinces of Al-Anbar and Nineveh or the Kurdish province of Dohuk.

Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission predicted Friday a 57% turnout at the polls.

- AP