BAGHDAD, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Iraqi election officials are auditing and reviewing procedures at 12 voting sites where as many as 99 percent of ballots favored a new constitution.
The Independent Election Commission said the results of Saturday's referendum would have to be delayed "a few days" because the apparently high number of "yes" votes required election workers to "recheck, compare and audit" the results in Shiite and Kurdish provinces.
"When you find consistently very, very high numbers, then that is cause for further checking," an elections official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the New York Times. "Anything over 90 percent either way usually leads to further investigation."
To guard against fraud and intimidation, the commission deployed 57,000 election observers, drawn from local aid groups, and 120 representatives of political parties.
About 10 million Iraqis cast ballots, or about 64 percent of registered voters, said Barham Salih, the minister for planning. Preliminary results, he said, show the constitution appears to have been approved by about 65 percent of those voting.
If the constitution is approved, the country will hold national elections in December.
