We object to the discriminatory decisions taken by the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Iraq Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) Program. Major Iraqi communities outside of Iraq are being ignored, despite repeated requests from various community leaders to correct this dire situation. The seemingly arbitrary allocation of polling stations is seen as an outright act of discrimination against non-Kurdish Iraqis, especially the ChaldoAssyrians who comprise some 85% to 90% of all Iraqi Americans. A prime example of this lack of balance is the decision made by the IOM to establish polling stations in the USA for Nashville's approximate 5,000 Kurds, but not for San Diego's 25,000, Modesto/Turlock's 10,000, or Phoenix's 10,000 ChaldoAssyrians.

OCV's voter education campaign with the ostensive slogan, "The future has a voice - your vote!" has not been seen nor heard of in major Iraqi communities in the US and elsewhere. Community TV and Radio programs have not been approached by the IOM. Iraqis are outraged by the mis-management of the Out-of-Country Voting Program and call on the IOM to make the following changes immediately:

1. Add polling stations in the following cities: Modesto/Turlock, (20,000), San Diego, CA (25,000), Phoenix, AZ (10,000), San Francisco Bay Area/San Jose, CA (10,000), Beirut, Lebanon (9,000), Fairfield, Australia (10,000), Damascus, Syria (100,000).

2. Given the larger percentage of ChaldoAssyrian Iraqis in the Diaspora, Media material must include the Syriac (ChaldoAssyrian) language in addition to the current proposed languages of Kurdish, Arabic, and English.

3. Allocate sufficient funding to assist local communities in mobilizing and registering their constituents.