Watch - Election Day

Election Day
Gallery: The Iraqi National Election
Sunday, January 30, 2005

"When an unexplained boom sounded near one Baghdad voting station, some women put their hands to their mouths and whispered prayers. Others continued walking calmly to the voting stations. Several shouted in unison: 'We have no fear.'" (AP)

Photos - From Yahoo! News Photos 2005/01/30
"Election Day" (The New York Times, 2005/01/30)
"The Iraqi Election" (The New York Times, 2005/01/30)

"Women with their index fingers stained purple..." (Max Becherer, The New York Times, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman flashes the V-sign..." (Henghameh Fahimi, AFP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman smiles after dipping her finger to ink..." (Mohammed Uraibi, AP, 2005/01/30)
"With tears rolling down her eyes..." (Ali Jarekji, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi veiled woman with her right index finger stained with blue ink..." (Ali Jarekji, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"A veiled Iraqi woman shows off her finger stained with blue ink..." (Ali Jarekji, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi man shows his dye-stained finger..." (Toby Melville, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman holds up her hand, and shows a purple finger..." (Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman cries tears of joy after casting her vote..." (Faleh Kheiber, Reuters, 2005/01/30)

"Few Iraqis professed to know exactly how democracy..." (Joao Silva, The New York Times, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi man is silhouetted as he casts his vote..." (Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi male and female soldier smile..." (Ramzi Haidar, AFP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqis queuing to vote at a polling station..." (Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqi men queue to cast their ballot at a polling station..." (Ahmad al-Rubaye, AFP, 2005/01/30)
"An iraqi woman waits in a queue..." (Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)

"Iraqi women hold election information pamphlets..." (Erik de Castro, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi girl looks out of the womens queue at a school polling station..." (Toby Melville, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqi women queue at a school polling station..." (Toby Melville, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi policeman helps a blind woman..." (Mohammed Uraibi, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman is carried to a polling station in Baghdad..." (Mohammed Uraibi, AP, 2005/01/30)

"Thousands of Iraqis make a trip on foot to the town of Al Alamara..." (James Vellacott, AP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqis walk to a polling station in the impoverished town of Jisr Diala..." (John Moore, AP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqis walk to a polling station in the impoverished town of Jisr Diala..." (John Moore, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi girl carried her mother's voter registration..." (Chris Hondros, Getty Images, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi family approaches a US Army checkpoint..." (Anja Niedringhaus, AP, 2005/01/30)

"Iraqis Cast Their Votes, Despite Attacks" (Mariam Fam, AP/Yahoo! News, 2005/01/30)
"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqis defied threats of violence and calls for a boycott to cast ballots in Iraq's first free election in a half-century Sunday, and insurgents seeking to wreck the vote struck polling stations with a string of suicide bombings and mortar strikes, killing at least 44 people, including nine suicide bombers.
Women in black abayas whispered prayers at the sound of a nearby explosion as they waited to vote at one Baghdad polling station. But the mood elsewhere was triumphant, with long lines in many places in the city: civilians and policemen danced with joy outside one site, and some streets were packed with voters walking shoulder-to-shoulder toward polling centers. ...
Officials said turnout appeared higher than expected, although it was too soon to tell for sure. A few hours before polls closed at 5 p.m., one Iraqi official, Adel al-Lami of the Independent Electoral Commission, said 72 percent of the 14 million eligible voters cast ballots but offered no overall figure of the number who participated. ...
Rumors of impending violence were rife. When an unexplained boom sounded near one Baghdad voting station, some women put their hands to their mouths and whispered prayers. Others continued walking calmly to the voting stations. Several shouted in unison: 'We have no fear.'"

"Women with their index fingers stained purple..."
(Max Becherer, The New York Times, 2005/01/30)
From the slide show: "The Iraqi Election": "Women with their index fingers stained purple, the official sign that they had cast ballots."

"An Iraqi woman flashes the V-sign..."
(Henghameh Fahimi, AFP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman flashes the V-sign for victory after casting her vote at a polling station in Tehran."

"An Iraqi woman smiles after dipping her finger to ink..."
(Mohammed Uraibi, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman smiles after dipping her finger to ink, before casting her ballot in a polling station in Baghdad, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005."

"With tears rolling down her eyes..."
(Ali Jarekji, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"With tears rolling down her eyes, a veiled Iraqi woman shows off her finger stained with blue ink and a small card reading 'Elect Iraq' after she cast her vote in a polling station in Amman, January 30, 2005."

"An Iraqi veiled woman with her right index finger stained with blue ink..."
(Ali Jarekji, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi veiled woman with her right index finger stained with blue ink and small banner 'Elect Iraq' after she casting her vote in Amman polling station Januray 30 2005. Thousands of Iraqis voted abroad Sunday as their compatriots at home braved bombs and threats to go the polls in the first multi-party election in 50 years."

"A veiled Iraqi woman shows off her finger stained with blue ink..."
(Ali Jarekji, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"A veiled Iraqi woman shows off her finger stained with blue ink and a small card reading 'Elect Iraq' after she cast her vote in a polling station in Amman, January 30, 2005."

"An Iraqi man shows his dye-stained finger..."
(Toby Melville, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi man shows his dye-stained finger -- signifying he has voted - at a polling station in Basra, southern Iraq, Jan. 30, 2005, as the country holds its first elections."

"An Iraqi woman holds up her hand, and shows a purple finger..."
(Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman holds up her hand, and shows a purple finger, indicating she has just voted, as she leaves a polling station in the centre of Az Zubayr, southern Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. Iraqis turned out to vote Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations."

"An Iraqi woman cries tears of joy after casting her vote..."
(Faleh Kheiber, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman cries tears of joy after casting her vote, outside a polling station in the holy city of Najaf, Jan. 30, 2005. Insurgents threatening an election day bloodbath killed at least 22 people Sunday in a string of bombings and mortar attacks on polling stations in Iraq 's first multi-party ballot in half a century."

"Few Iraqis professed to know exactly how democracy..."
(Joao Silva, The New York Times, 2005/01/30)
From the slide show "The Iraqi Election": "Few Iraqis professed to know exactly how democracy might end the violence, but they seemed certain that they had entered a new and more decent time."

"An Iraqi man is silhouetted as he casts his vote..."
(Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi man is silhouetted as he casts his vote at a polling station in the centre of Az Zubayr, Southern Iraq, Sunday January 30 2005. Iraqis turned out to vote Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations."

"An Iraqi male and female soldier smile..."
(Ramzi Haidar, AFP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi male and female soldier smile as they gather to vote at a polling station in the Salhiyah district of Baghdad. Iraqis nervously cast ballots in their country's first election in more than 50 years as insurgents seeking to wreck the vote staged a string of suicide and mortar attacks."

"Iraqis queuing to vote at a polling station..."
(Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqis queuing to vote at a polling station in the centre of Az Zubayr, Southern Iraq, Sunday January 30 2005. Iraqis turned out to vote Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations."

"Iraqi men queue to cast their ballot at a polling station..."
(Ahmad al-Rubaye, AFP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqi men queue to cast their ballot at a polling station in the holy city of Najaf. Mothers carrying babies and blind men helped by relatives were among thousands of Shiites who rushed to vote in Iraq's holy city of Najaf, driven by the fervour to shake off decades of oppression."

"An iraqi woman waits in a queue..."
(Andrew Parsons, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An iraqi woman waits in a queue with her documents at a polling station in the centre of Az Zubayr, Southern Iraq, Sunday Jan. 30 2005. Iraqis turned out to vote Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations."

"Iraqi women hold election information pamphlets..."
(Erik de Castro, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqi women hold election information pamphlets while queuing to vote for the national polls in a polling precinct in Al Anbar province 23 kilometres west of Baghdad,Iraq January 30, 2005."

"An Iraqi girl looks out of the womens queue at a school polling station..."
(Toby Melville, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi girl looks out of the womens queue at a school polling station in the At Maeel area of Basra, southern Iraq, January 30, 2005, as the country holds its first elections. Iraqi officials hope for a turnout of at least 50 percent to lend legitimacy to the outcome. Officials expect preliminary results in six to seven days and final results in about 10 days."

"Iraqi women queue at a school polling station..."
(Toby Melville, Reuters, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqi women queue at a school polling station in the At Maeel area of Basra, southern Iraq, January 30, 2005, as the country holds its first elections. Iraqi officials hope for a turnout of at least 50 percent to lend legitimacy to the outcome."

"An Iraqi policeman helps a blind woman..."
(Mohammed Uraibi, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi policeman helps a blind woman on her way to a polling station in Baghdad, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. Iraqis voted Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying threats of violence from insurgents vowing to sabotage the balloting."

"An Iraqi woman is carried to a polling station in Baghdad..."
(Mohammed Uraibi, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi woman is carried to a polling station in Baghdad, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. Iraqis voted Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying threats of violence from insurgents vowing to sabotage the balloting."

"Thousands of Iraqis make a trip on foot to the town of Al Alamara..."
(James Vellacott, AP, 2005/01/30)
"After all car movements were prohibited, thousands of Iraqis make a trip on foot to the town of Al Alamara, Iraq, to place their votes Sunday, Jan. 30 2005. Iraqis turned out to vote Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations. By midday, at least 29 people were dead but the violence had slowed and voting picked up."

"Iraqis walk to a polling station in the impoverished town of Jisr Diala..."
(John Moore, AP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqis walk to a polling station in the impoverished town of Jisr Diala on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. Voters walked to the polls for Sunday's landmark vote, as motor traffic was prohibited to prevent car bomb attacks."

"Iraqis walk to a polling station in the impoverished town of Jisr Diala..."
(John Moore, AP, 2005/01/30)
"Iraqis walk to a polling station in the impoverished town of Jisr Diala on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. Voters walked to the polls for Sunday's landmark vote, as motor traffic was prohibited to prevent car bomb attacks."

"An Iraqi girl carried her mother's voter registration..."
(Chris Hondros, Getty Images, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi girl carried her mother's voter registration papers in Sadr City, a neighborhood in Baghdad."

"An Iraqi family approaches a US Army checkpoint..."
(Anja Niedringhaus, AP, 2005/01/30)
"An Iraqi family approaches a US Army checkpoint on their way to a polling station in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005 where Iraqis are lining up to vote in their country's first free election in a half-century."

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