Stardate 20021014.1816

(On Screen): They're going to hold an election in Iraq tomorrow. More than 11 million people will be permitted to decide whether to choose Saddam for another seven year term of office.

The polling place will be filled with signs saying that people should vote "yes". All the ballots will be numbered, so that election officials will be able to determine who voted "no" if anyone does. As might be imagined, the result is expected to be a landslide victory for Saddam. Last time he won 99.46% of the vote.

"God willing, this time it will be 100 percent," said Kifah Kazem, 43, a sporting club manager. "It will be an expression of our love for our president."

Iraqi officials hope the result will also send a message to the Bush administration, which has committed itself to "regime change" in Iraq. Administration officials contend most Iraqis would be happy to see Hussein deposed.

"The political and international circumstances, and the American and Zionist threats, have given the referendum a new meaning," Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahaf said today. "It's a blow to these criminals."

Or as Kazem put it, the outcome "will be like a fork in the eyes of [President] Bush."

Do they really think anyone will take this seriously? Unfortunately, there are people who will. There are people who will think that this election truly does prove that the Iraqi people support Saddam and use it as an argument against "regime change".

There no question whatever that the vote will be overwhelmingly positive. But that won't demonstrate love for Saddam so much as respect for the ruthlessness of his secret police. In a police state, you say what you know is safe, not what you really think. In an election without secret ballots, you vote the way the government tells you to.