By Dexter Filkins
    The New York Times

    Monday 17 October 2005

    Baghdad - Iraqi election officials said today that they were investigating what they described as "unusually high" vote totals in 12 Shiite and Kurdish provinces, where as many 99 percent of the voters were reported to have cast ballots in favor of Iraq's new constitution, raising the possibility that the results of Saturday's referendum could be called into question.

    In a statement released this evening, the Independent Election Commission of Iraq said the results of the Oct. 15 referendum would have to be delayed by "a few days," because the apparently high totals in favor of the constitution required that election workers "recheck, compare and audit" the results.

    The statement made no mention of the possibility of fraud, but said the re-examination of the balloting was being done in order to comply with internationally accepted standards. Election officials say that under such standards, voting must be re-examined any time a candidate or a ballot question receives more than 90 percent of the vote.

    The passage of the draft charter would constitute a significant step toward restoring Iraq's full independence and pave the way for a new round of elections Dec. 15 for a permanent government.

    Careful not to preempt the outcome of the referendum, President Bush said earlier today that he welcomed the strong Sunni turnout at the polls.

    "My first reaction to the vote was that an increase in turnout was an indication that the Iraqi people are strongly in favor of settling disputes in a peaceful way," Mr. Bush said in joint remarks with the president of Bulgaria, Georgi Purvanov, in the Oval Office. "Secondly, I was pleased to see that the Sunnis have participated in the process."

    Sunni Arabs, who lost control of Iraq after Saddam Hussein was ousted from power in the American-led invasion in 2003, make up just 20 percent of the country's population. The Sunnis, who widely opposed the new constitution, fear the new charter will pave the way for a breakup of Iraq and deprive them of oil resources in the north and the south of the country. The constitution will fail if two-thirds of voters in at least three provinces block it; Sunnis dominate 4 of Iraq's 18 provinces.

    Members of the Iraqi election commission declined to speak about the announcement of the investigation. But an official with knowledge of the ballot counting said that the 12 provinces where the "yes" votes exceeded 90 percent all had populations that were either majority Shiite or Kurdish. Leaders from those communities strongly endorsed the proposed constitution. More than one of those provinces, the official said, reported that 99 percent of the ballots counted had been cast in favor of the constitution.

    None of the provinces cited for a closer look had Sunni majorities.

    "When you find consistently very, very high numbers, then that is cause for further checking," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the information. "Anything over 90 percent either way usually leads to further investigation."

    Even if no evidence of fraud is found, today's announcement seems likely to trigger suspicions among many Iraqi voters, especially Sunnis, many of whom are deeply suspicious of the Shiite majority and of the Kurds.

    The Independent Election Commission of Iraq, which is composed of six Iraqis and one non-Iraqi, has the authority to overturn the results of the election if the panel finds that it was conducted unlawfully.

    The announcement that voters in some provinces voted in inordinately high numbers in favor of the constitution follows concerns, publicly expressed by Shiite leaders before the balloting, that the constitution could fail. To address those concerns, the Iraqi National Assembly passed a measure that would have modified the way that votes are counted to make it easier for the constitution to pass. The assembly rescinded the measures in the days leading up to the election.