Election officials to release results of investigation

The commission said only 50 complaints had potential to change vote totals.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq's election commission will announce results of its investigation into allegations of vote fraud today, officials said, while the tribunal overseeing Saddam Hussein's trial confirmed the chief judge has asked to resign.
The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, or IECI, has worked through the 50 or so serious complaints of voter fraud lodged after the Dec. 15 election, Safwat Rashid, an official with the panel, said Sunday.
About 2,000 complaints were filed overall, but the commission said only 50 had the potential to change vote totals.
The governing United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite religious bloc, has a strong lead, according to preliminary results. But it will not win enough seats in the 275-member parliament to avoid a coalition with Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties.
Final results delayed
Final election results have been delayed by Sunni Arab complaints of fraud. Although leading politicians have expressed hopes a government could be formed in February, most experts and officials agree it could take two to three months, as it did after the January 2005 elections for an interim government.
Some 900 ballot boxes were checked for problems and a minority of those will be thrown out, Rashid said. He refused to say how many but noted the boxes hold only about 500 votes, meaning the overall effect would be minimal. About 70 percent of registered Iraqis voted, casting about 11 million votes nationwide.
The commission has not worked through the other 1,930 or so complaints, another elections official said. Those less serious charges would not change any vote totals but could result in fines, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
The international team assessing the IECI's handling of the voting process also said it would release its final report Thursday. The IECI is expected to release uncertified final results shortly after that, perhaps as soon as this coming weekend.
More complaints could be lodged after that, and it could take up to two weeks to study those complaints. Certified results would then be announced -- likely sometime in early February -- opening the way for negotiations in earnest over a coalition government.
Judge resigns
The tribunal overseeing the Saddam case said Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin submitted his resignation for "personal reasons" and not because of government pressure. It said the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants would reconvene Jan. 24 as scheduled despite the uncertainties surrounding Judge Amin.
Judge Amin submitted his resignation after becoming fed up with criticism that he had let the proceedings against the ousted leader spin out of control, a court official told AP on Saturday.
A member of the five-judge panel headed by Judge Amin told The Associated Press that the tribunal was still considering whether to appoint another judge to take Judge Amin's place. He said officials had asked Judge Amin to reconsider.
The chief prosecutor in Saddam's trial, Jaafar al-Mousawi, told AP that if Judge Amin's resignation is accepted another judge on the panel would replace him as chief and another judge would be appointed to the panel.
Brig. Gen. Donald Alston said Sunday that a recent spike in attacks in Iraq showed that Al-Qaida and other terrorists still have the capability to act, but they were growing more desperate.
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