Iraqi Ratification Results

It's interesting hearing all the criticism about the Iraqi constitution ratification. The most common is that a majority of the Sunnis are voting no, therefore, the Constitution is somehow not legitimate:

Consider the ratification process of our own Constitution:

None were ratified by direct vote. All were conventions or state legislatures. The votes were close in some places:

7/12/1787 Delaware Unanimous
12/12/87 Pennsylvania 46 Yea 23 Nay
1/2/88 Georgia 128 Yea 40 Nay
1/9/88 Connecticut 128-40
2/6/88 Massachusettes 187-168
3/24/88 Rhode Island (town meetings reject Constitution 2,708-237)
4/28/88 Maryland 63-11
5/23/88 S. Carolina 149-73
6/21/88 New Hampshire 57-47
6/25/88 Virginia 89-79
7/26/88 New York 30-27
11/21/89 North Carolina 194-77
5/29/90 Rhode Island 34-32

This web site links to copies of all the various state conventions. It includes the minutes and with some full transcripts of the speeches from the various conventions. I highly recommend that you look around.

If one were to tally the votes in total (not including Delaware), the vote would be 1105-617 or 64%-36%. Certainly it is not close over all, but probably closer than the recent vote in Iraq.

Initial Iraqi Voting results here:

Via the Associated Press:

West-Central Iraq:
ANBAR (Ramadi):
Figures only from the area of the city of Fallujah. Turnout in other parts of Anbar province believed to be minimal, and results not known.
— Yes: 3 percent.
— No: 97 percent.
— Votes counted: All 100,000 votes from Fallujah counted. (Turnout of 77 percent in Fallujah. )
DIYALA (Baqouba)
— Yes: 280,000 (70 percent)
— No: 80,000 (20 percent)
— Disqualified votes: 40,000 (10 percent)
— Votes counted: All 400,000 votes counted. (57 percent turnout)
NINEVAH (Mosul)
— Yes: 326,774, (78 percent)
— No: 90,065, (21 percent)
— Disqualified votes: 2,965 (less than 1 percent)
— Votes counted: 419,804 votes, from 475 of the 500 polling stations counted so far. (Turnout percentage unknown.)
TAMIM (Kirkuk)
— Yes: 341,611 (63 percent)
— No: 195,725 (36 percent)
— Disqualified votes: 5,420 (1 percent)
— Votes counted: All 542,000 votes counted. (78 percent turnout).
Southern Iraq:
BASRA (Basra)
— Yes: 640,200. (97 percent)
— No: 19,800. (3 percent)
— Votes counted: All 660,000 votes counted. (64 percent turnout).
DHI QAR (Nasiriyah)
— Yes: 415,000 (90 percent)
— No: 46,000 (10 percent)
— All 461,000 votes counted. (54 percent turnout)
KARBALA (Karbala)
— Yes: 417,715 (95 percent).
— No: 21,985 (5 percent).
— Votes counted: All 439,700 votes counted. (60 percent turnout.)
WASIT (Kut)
— Yes: 494,950. (95 percent)
— No: 26,050. (5 percent)
— All 521,000 votes counted.(54 percent turnout).
Four southern provinces where only the turnout was known, as reported by Carina Perelli, the U.N. elections chief:
NAJAF (Najaf): 56 percent.
MUTHANNA (Samawah): 58 percent turnout
MAYSAN (Amarah): 57 percent turnout
QADISIYAH Diwaniyah): 56 percent turnout.