Polls Open, Voters File in Across Iraq

[quaoar]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-iraq-the-vote,0,55705.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines

By HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press Writer

January 29, 2005, 11:33 PM EST

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Voters trickled into polling stations under tight security Sunday in Iraq, casting ballots despite promises by insurgents to sabotage the country's first free election in a half-century.

Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer was one of the first to vote at election headquarters in the heavily fortified Green Zone, calling the action his country's first step "toward joining the free world."

Across the nation, the nearly 5,200 polling stations opened on schedule, with workers checking voter identifications and police standing guard.

There were no immediate reports of violence, but an explosion was heard at the U.S. military base at Kirkuk in the north. Scattered small arms fire was heard near another U.S. base near Baghdad's airport.

[Borgnine]

1. Finally, fradulent elections can be established in Iraq!

The illusion of freedom is on the march!

[Skink]

2. Any 10 hour lines?

[oasis]

6. Only in the the districts where same sex marriage is on the ballot.

:evilgrin:

[MattNC]

3. best of luck to them

hope it goes well.

[daleo]

4. But how would we ever know? n/t

[Rainscents]

10. We will know after the election...

someone will leak it out!! Democrats Undergrounds Jornalist will be there with hidden camera.

[Erika]

9. I hope it goes good for our people there

and the Iraqis. They were shoved into this mess for better or worse.
Initial reports are saying on TV that the Iraqi police are shooting wildly at anything/anyone they think could cause problems and that efforts to calm them down haven't worked. Paranoia? Inexperience? Power hungry? Who knows.

[skippythwndrdog]

5. Good luck, Iraq. May you proceed on the path to democracy.

My prayers are with you.

[Pam-Moby]

7. We all know that B*sh

will appoint whom ever he wants in there!! They will say that the vote outside of Iraq has determined who the Pres of Iraq is and you all know it will be a candidate B*sh wants in there!!!

[NNN0LHI]

8. Early exit polling data is showing Allawi with 99% of the vote n/t

[daleo]

11. That seems unlikely.

Who else would Bush vote for?

[Rainscents]

12. Of Course!!! No is no other candidate... Allawi is the man

[Rainscents]

14. 5200 polling place?

Wow... Did we had that many here in one state? Like California?

[Erika]

13. Did W ship Katherine Harris over there?

to get the results he wanted?

[alcuno]

15. Just reported that there has been one voter in Ramadi - city of 500k

People are going to wait until later in the day to vote. If they do.

[osaMABUSh]

16. Let's say Election Day has less violence than expected

There is no doubt that in the next days or weeks the violence will spike up again. Especially when the Iraqi and US troops don't have the polling places to focus on.

[Erika]

17. We're only into election day by

a little more than an hour over there.

[quaoar]

18. No sign of voting in Sunni cities

From AP:

There was no sign of voting in the Sunni Arab cities of Ramadi, Samarra, and Fallujah west of the capital, where support for the insurgency runs deep. Sunni extremists, fearing victory by the Shiites, have called for a boycott, claiming no vote held under U.S. military occupation is legitimate.

[proudbluestater]

19. "5,200 polling stations" = Each voter gets their OWN station!

[Elidor]

20. And now your election weather:

Scattered small arms fire in the early hours, building to open confrontation and long-range mortars in the early afternoon. Look out for anti-personnel mines and suicide bombers around dusk, with random kidnappings and occasional drive-bys into the early morning hours.