Ballot insecurity: in theory, the June 30 handover in Iraq is supposed to clear the path to free and fair elections. In practice, it's a little more complicated than that.(Dispatches)

SIX MONTHS AGO, THE QUESTION ON the lips of most critics of the occupation of Iraq was one that the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had posed: Why not hold elections by June 30? At the time, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) claimed that it was just not possible. The United Nations agreed. And so all parties settled for an appointed interim government and a January 2005 election date.

But with security deteriorating, the need for a legitimately representative Iraqi government grows more urgent every day. Critics of the transition plan--including Joseph Biden, ...

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