International election officials will meet with dozens of San Fernando Valley-based Iraqi exiles tonight to generate interest in their native country's historic elections later this month, which many of them can vote in.

Election officials are scrambling in Los Angeles and four other U.S. cities to register voters and set up polling booths for an estimated 360,000 Iraqi exiles living in the United States.

"These are people who are concerned about the future of their country and they want to make sure it's been set up fairly and that the election process ... works,' said Dana Stinson, the Los Angeles field director for the International Organization for Migration, a non-governmental group tasked by Iraq's electoral commission to head the out-of-country voting effort.

Qualified voters must register to vote at one of five locations in Los Angeles between January 17-23. Though the IOM has yet to open the registration and polling stations, Stinson said they will likely be in Glendale, Pomona, Anaheim, Westwood and Cerritos, areas of concentrated exile communities.

Before voting takes place from January 28-30, other registered voters and political groups could challenge the voting rolls.

Iraqi exiles have waited for decades to choose their own leaders. For many, like Omar Said, a 32-year old emigre who works in Van Nuys, it will be the first time they have ever voted for an Iraqi leader.

"I think it's going to be confusing. I don't even know what election and voting means,' Said said.

But some critics, who say the election is being rushed for political reasons, fear that many thousands of eligible voters won't be able to get to the few designated polls in the United States and 13 other countries where out-of-country voting has been approved.

"Given the time frame and the resources we have, it's the best we can do,' said Jeremy Copeland, a spokesman for the IOM, based in Jordan.

The IOM is setting up polling in 13 countries and five American cities Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington D.C, Chicago and Nashville. The $92 million U.S. project is coming together in less than three months and officials admit there are gaps in what they can provide.

Many emigres live hundreds of miles from polling and registration stations, which will require an in-person appearance to both vote and register.

Moreover, there will be more than 100 parties on the ballot, which IOM officials have not even seen yet, Copeland said.

Under the rules of the Iraqi electoral commission, eligible voters must be 18 years or older and be Iraqi citizen or be able to reclaim citizenship. Qualified voters could also be the child of an Iraqi father. Children of Iraqi mothers and foreign fathers are not eligible.

It's unclear how many eligible Iraqi exiles are living in California, although there are an estimated 90,000 residents of Iraqi descent living in the state and between 20,000 to 30,000 in the Los Angeles area.

Rev. Noel Gorgis, an Iraqi who heads St. Paul Chaldean Assyrian Church in North Hollywood, said many in his congregation have been speculating about how and when the vote will happen.

"The elections are very important,' he said. "We have to go forward, for democracy.'

Daily News Staff Writer Susan Abram contributed to this story. Rachel Uranga can be reached at (818) 713-3741, or by e-mail at rachel.uranga@dailynews.com.

By Rachel Uranga
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