Via the BBC: Iraqis vote in landmark election. Some factoids from the piece:

275-seat National Assembly will have four-year term
18 provinces are taken as separate constituencies
230 seats allocated according to size of population
45 seats distributed to parties whose ethnic, religious or political support is spread over more than one province
Over 14 million eligible to vote
One third of candidates in each party must be women

WaPo: A Lack of Violence as Iraqis Vote to Choose New Government:

Iraqi voters turned out in force countrywide Thursday to elect a parliament to remake their troubled nation, with Sunni-led Iraqi insurgent movements suspending attacks for a day so that Sunni Arabs could vote en masse for the first time.

The voting appeared to split along sectarian lines as expected, with many Sunni voters in the Sunni-dominated far west saying they were voting for Sunni candidates. Long lines were reported among Sunnis, most of whom boycotted elections earlier this year or were frightened away by threats.

WaPo’s complete election coverage here, which includes this useful grapic:

More links:

• Iraq the Model has reporting (and pictures) from the ground from various points in Iraq.
• Matthew Shugart: Iraqi Dec. 15 election: What can we expect?
• Ann Althouse:
  

  The encounter with democracy is so new, so deeply meaningful, that it moves the average person to speak poetry.

• James Joyner on religious and secular parties.
• Barbara O’Brien has a round-up of less than complimentary (to the Bush administration) commentary.
• W. Thomas Smith Jr. on Iraq on National Review Online

Also, via WaPo/Reuters:

3 Responses to “Iraqi Election Round-up”

1. Kevin W Says:
   December 15th, 2024 at 4:16 pm

   Hooray for Iraq! Never before has a nation accepted a new government, particuarly a democracy as easily as has Iraq. Japan and Germany, following WWII had a much more difficult time stomaching democracy. Now look at them. Two of the world’s greatest democracies. Iraq has potential to be another.

2. Weapons of Mass Destruction Says:
   December 15th, 2024 at 4:45 pm

   Iraqi Elections Roundup

   Coverage in the Washington Post includes: Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer reporting on strong turnout across Iraq. Doug Struck writing that the chances for secular candidates appear dim in Basra. Ellen Knickmeyer reports on former PM Allawai. The P…

3. bRight & Early » An Outstanding Day Says:
   December 15th, 2024 at 5:47 pm

   [...] the terrorist who fear freedom and democracy. Dr. Steven Taylor at PoliBlog has a great overview of the election process including some very enlightening graphics. This post at Iraq the Model has be [...]