In Iraq elections voters will not know who they are voting for!

This is really a no brainer and shows how the sitting legislators fear the voters. They want to run without being known to run. Sistani is arguably the most important Shia cleric in Iraq so his opposition to the system is key. It is interesting to note that the closed system was used in an earlier federal election although recent provincial elections were open.

""Iraqis protest against controversial voting system
by Salam Faraj Salam Faraj
Sat Oct 10, 10:58 am ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets across Iraq on Saturday against plans to enact a controversial closed voting system which does not name candidates standing for office.

The protests in Baghdad, the northern city of Kirkuk and the southern port of Basra came after a call by Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani for MPs to adopt an open process for the parliamentary elections in January.

...The central issue in dispute is the plan of MPs to adopt a closed voting that would list parties contesting the election without disclosing the individuals vying to take up seats in parliament.

Parliamentarians moved last week to adopt such a voting system ahead of the January 16 election, triggering Sistani's intervention and the protests.

"This demonstration was organised to call for an open list, and to give the people a chance to vote for candidates they know and trust," said Sami Hassan Mussa, a writer and political analyst taking part in the demonstration.

....A closed list was used in national elections in January 2005, the first to take place after now-executed dictator Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein's ouster following the US-led invasion of 2003.

However, an open system listing the names of candidates and their parties was used in provincial polls held last January that were won by Prime Minister Nuri al-MalikiNuri al-Maliki's allies.

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