from the Washington Post Online

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 29, 2005

Tanya Gilly, 30, in gray scarf and robe, deposited her ballot for the Iraqi parliament at a polling station yesterday. One woman. One vote. So much tragic history.

"It's a dream come true for the Kurdish people, after all the suffering we went through," exclaimed the Germantown resident, breaking down in sobs.

Thousands of Iraqi expatriates in 14 countries cast absentee ballots yesterday in their homeland's first free election in decades. More than 280,000 were eligible to participate in the three-day process, a broad effort to extend voting rights to the Iraqi diaspora, including many refugees who fled the government of Saddam Hussein. The election in Iraq takes place tomorrow.

Voters are choosing an Iraqi national assembly that is slated to draw up a new constitution. But to those casting ballots at a regional polling site, the Ramada Inn in New Carrollton, the vote carried greater significance.

"It's closure," said Gilly, referring to the calamitous history of Iraq's minority Kurdish population, which was attacked with chemical weapons by Hussein's government. "We just want to move forward."

"We're hoping this might lead to peace and a more stable government," said Batul Al Zubeidy, 20, of Fairfax, whose family fled the city of Najaf after a failed uprising by Shiites following the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

In the United States, polling stations were set up in the Washington area, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Nashville. Security was tight, and turnout appeared relatively light at the sites yesterday, although no estimates were released by election organizers.

Some Iraqi immigrants have complained that there were too few voting sites. Nearly 26,000 Iraqi Americans registered for the election, about 10 percent of those eligible.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) dropped by the Ramada yesterday, where 2,048 people have registered. He praised the voters but criticized the International Organization for Migration, which received $92 million from Iraq's electoral authorities to coordinate the vote abroad.

"People were excited. People were hopeful. Clearly, in their view, this was a positive day for themselves and for their families still in Iraq," Hoyer said. "I would have hoped that with a $92 million contract, more people would have come to the polls."

Stephen Lennon, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said the group set up as many sites as were authorized by Iraqi officials.

"That's what could be done in the timeframe given," he said.

State and local police with dogs ringed the Ramada yesterday, where voting began at 7 a.m. During the day, voters arrived in a small but steady stream and were frisked by private guards at an outdoor tent. Entering the conference center, the Iraqis showed their registration slips, signed a voter list, filled out ballots behind cardboard screens, then dropped them in clear plastic urns. The voters' fingers were dipped in purple ink, to prevent double-voting.

The mood was joyous. Some Iraqis snapped pictures. Others burst into applause as family members voted. Ayad A-Saidi of Falls Church hollered, "Thank you, Bush!" as he dropped his folded ballot in the box. He jubilantly carried a sign adorned with U.S. and Iraqi flags, reading, "Thank you USA for liberating my country."

How did he feel?

"Oh, my God! I feel very nice. I feel freedom," said A-Saidi, 37.

Organizers said they expected a heavier turnout over the weekend. "Friday is going to be slow because everyone goes to work and to Friday prayers" at mosques, said Mohamed Taam, one official.

While most voters appeared to be from the Washington area, some traveled long distances.
Ali Hama Amin, 30, flew in from Boston, where he said he studied at Harvard's School of Public Health.

"It's a historical moment for us. It's our first election," said Amin, who wore a blue suit and formal black coat for the occasion. A native of Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdish autonomous zone, he said he voted for the main Kurdish slate.

"I don't like to have radical clerics in Iraq. I want a democratic, free federation of Iraq," he said.
Another Kurd, Lazha Talat, a graduate student at the University of South Florida, flew in with a group of other Iraqi Fulbright scholars.

"It's my duty to participate in the first election we can do," the 26-year-old explained. She noted, however, that turnout was fairly light.

"It's crowded with reporters. Maybe you are more than us," she said, noting the swirl of TV cameramen around the departing voters.

The fault lines in Iraqi society appeared evident among voters in the Washington area. Those casting ballots appeared to be mainly Kurds and Shiites, both groups oppressed by Hussein's government. There were few Arab Sunnis, the minority that dominated Iraq under Hussein. Many Sunnis in Iraq have decided to stay away from the polls.

Some Iraqis made no secret of the fact they were voting on ethnic lines.

"We are the majority, and we are going to prove it," declared Ahmed Al Mayali, 36, a Shiite taxi driver from Roanoke.

But others emphasized they wanted to overcome such divisions.

Ahmed Alsaady, 37, of Arlington wore a knitted Kurdish cap as well as a black-and-white checkered scarf he described as Shiite. He was trying to embody the different groups in Iraq, he said, gesturing from his hat to his scarf.

"From north to south, will be free Iraq," he said, smiling.

Staff writer Hamil R. Harris contributed to this report.



Kazim Warmzyary of Fairfax, left, and Rzgar Kareem of Maplewood, N.J., dance with a Kurdish flag after voting in New Carrollton. Photo Credit: Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post


Thanks to Kathleen for the tip on this one. She had this comment:

I love this article because it gives a sense of how much Iraqis appreciate the opportunity to vote. It's an amazing view to see them celebrating after voting. When was the last time we went to the polls and danced in joy for just the chance to vote! Our heroes gave them this opportunity!