From Times Online,  March 11, 2010 – Iraq’s biggest secular political bloc claimed today that major fraud had blighted parliamentary elections.
Allies of Iyad Allawi, the former Prime Minister, made the allegations at a press conference called this afternoon as the first voting results trickled in from around the country.
Members of Mr Allawi’s Iraqiya list claimed that discarded ballots had been discovered. Adnan al-Janabi, a senior member of the bloc, added: “We have recorded dozens of violations and there is interference from some officials.”
Early election results reflected Iraq’s regional differences. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s bloc was clearly ahead in two predominantly Shia provinces.
The figures, which were announced once 30 percent of votes had been counted in the southern provinces of Najaf and Babil, put the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a coalition led by Shia religious groups, in second place. The Iraqiya secular alliance was in third place.
In the north of the country, a list representing Iraq’s two largest Kurdish parties, including the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was comfortably ahead of reform-minded challengers in the northern province of Arbil.
Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission says Iraqiya has the lead in the former insurgent strongholds of Diyala and Salahuddin, north of Baghdad.
The final results are not expected for days.