BAGHDAD -- Iraq's electoral commission on Sunday rejected demands from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani for a manual recount of ballots, saying there was no justification for further delaying results of the March 7 parliamentary polls.

"We'd have to hire more than 350,000 employees and if we didn't hire that many, we'd need three years to recount [by hand]," said Faraj al-Haidari, chairman of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission, the parliament-appointed panel supervising the election. He added that no one had presented evidence of widespread fraud to merit such a drastic measure.

With 95 percent of votes counted, Mr. Maliki's State of Law coalition is neck and neck with the Iraqiya bloc led by the secular former prime minister, Ayad Allawi. As of this weekend, al-Maliki held a slight lead in the number of legislative seats won per province -- the factor that determines the winner -- but Mr. Allawi was a few thousand ballots ahead in the popular vote, according to the commission's figures. Final results will be announced Friday, election commissioners said.

Mr. Maliki, a conservative Shiite Muslim, demanded a recount in an ominously worded statement that said such a move would "preserve political stability" and prevent "the return of violence."

Mr. Talabani, a Kurd, followed with a statement that also called for another tally, "to preclude any doubts or confusion." The two politicians stressed they were making the demands as Iraq's top leaders, not as candidates.

It was an odd reversal of positions in an election whose results have been pending for two weeks. Only a week ago, it was Mr. Allawi's camp that was claiming fraud.

"Al-Maliki believes in democracy as long as it brings him to power," said Maysoun al-Damlouji, an Allawi running mate and spokeswoman.

Hassan al-Sneid, a Maliki-allied legislator and associate of the prime minister, released a written warning that the State of Law coalition "rejects results that do not come from a manual recount."

About 300 Maliki supporters took to the streets in the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf in a demonstration that could foreshadow more unrest in Iraq's increasingly tense post-election period.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped for a smooth election season to set the ground for the withdrawal of American forces by the end of next year.

"The situation may well deteriorate into a state not unlike what happened in Iran," said Haider al-Musawi, a political analyst at an independent research center in Baghdad, referring to the months of riots, protests and mass arrests that followed the disputed June election in neighboring Iran.

"This would be catastrophic for the political process. Iraqis have started to believe that their votes could make a difference," Mr. Musawi said. "If they see their votes turned around, God only knows where that would lead us -- maybe to violence once again."

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