HAMILTON, N.Y., (AScribe Newswire) -- A vote at the end of the month in Iraq puts the citizens of the country at extraordinary risk, according to international election observer and Colgate University expert Anne Pitcher.

"It is way too soon for a vote in Iraq, without a doubt," says Pitcher, a political science professor and monitor of the 2004 general elections in Mozambique. "Since violence and intimidation are still everyday occurrences in the country, you're asking people to risk being shot by insurgents or blown up by suicide bombers to cast a ballot. You cannot proceed with an election that way and expect to get a legitimate result."

Pitcher traveled to Mozambique with a team of 59 other international experts to observe the country's Dec. 1 and 2 elections for the Carter Center. The Carter Center is an internationally renowned human rights watchdog organization founded by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter that sponsors a range of relief, development, and capacity-building programs around the world. Its Democracy Program has observed 53 elections in 24 countries on four continents.

Pitcher says that in Mozambique's 2004 elections - about 12 years and three elections after the country's tumultuous civil war ended - intimidation and violence by opposing factions still played a role in the electoral process. Arrests of members of Mozambique's opposition parties, delayed poll openings, low voter turnout, and ballot irregularities all factored into an overwhelming win for the nation's ruling party, Pitcher believes.

"In Iraq - where the political situation is much worse than Mozambique and the internal conflict is clearly not anywhere near ending - how can anyone expect to have an election?" she asks. "Based on what I saw in Mozambique, I think it's a huge mistake to force this on the people."

Pitcher has studied the comparative politics of developing countries for more than 20 years, and has conducted fieldwork in several nations, including South Africa, Angola, Uganda, and Mozambique.

For more on the Iraqi or Mozambique elections, contact Pitcher at 315-228-7555 or apitcher@mail.colgate.edu.

For more media assistance, contact Caroline Jenkins, cajenkins@mail.colgate.edu, 315-228-6637.