Election Day

This Kurdish voter in Erbil is very happy.

Go here for a very nice photo gallery of Iraq women (Shi'a and Kurds) at the polls.

Israeli votes in Amman using grandfather's passport. Yaakov Hugi, an Israeli whose grandfather was Iraqi, voted in Amman presenting his grandfather's passport.

Iyad Allawi's party wins in the Baghdad election district where most Iraqi VIPs voted.

22:49 Baghdad. 15 British military killed in C-130 crash.

21:18 Baghdad. Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani thanks Iraqis for turnout at polls.

20:40 Baghdad. Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Nakib: "US troops will leave within 18 months"

20:10 Rome Berlusconi: "Victory for the Iraqi people."

19:57 Strasbourg: Javier Solana: "An important step forward for Iraq"

19:50 London. Blair confirms casualties. Prime Minister Tony Blair has confirmed casualties associated with C-130 crash.

19:44 London Blair: "Terrorism takes a blow"

19:09 Washington. Bush thanks European Union for its assistance in election day preparations. [Doesn't sound like Bush, does it?--Nur]

19:08 Washingon.Bush: "The voices of liberty heard in Iraq and Middle East."

19:04 Bush: "Iraqis demonstrated courage"

18:58 Teheran. Iran praises Iraqi elections. Iranian parliamentarian Alaeddin Boroujerdi praises elections. However, Iranian President Akbar Hasemi Rafsanjani fears the US will thwart new government.

18:54 Baghdad. Shi'ites celebrate victory. Shi'ites claim to have had a clamorous victory based on exit polls. Ammar al-Hakim of SCIRI says Shi'a win crushing victory in all provinces.

18:32 Baghdad. Elections results within 10 days.

18:26 Baghdad. UN observer says voting was transparent. The UN Special Representative, Ashraf Qazi, says elections were transparent and free.

18:09 Baghdad. Vote count by gaslight. Daily power outages force pollworkers to count votes by gaslight.

18:08 Al Anbar. US marine dies.

18:02 Cairo. Mubarak phones Allawi. Egyptian President congratulates Allawi on "historic vote".

17:02 Fallujah. Only a few dozen voters turn out at polls.

16:52 Baghdad. Observers report few irregularities in voting. Few reports of voting irregularities from 10,000 independent elections observers in Iraq.

16:37 Baghdad. Elections Commission says 8 million Iraqis voted. 8 million, or 60 percent of eligible voters turned out at the polls. The prior figure of 72 percent was an overestimation.

16:27 Baghdad. Explosions continue despite curfew. There have been 35 explosions since 8:30 am.

16:21 London. British Defence Ministry confirms downing of aircraft.

15:51 Baghdad. British aircraft downed northeast of Baghdad. A British military C130 was downed northeast of Baghdad. No survivors.

15:38 Washington. Condoleeza Rice: Election turnout better than foreseen.

15:30 Baghdad. Al Zarqawi: "30 rockets fired at Green Zone"

15:25 Baghdad. Polling booths close, voters still wait on line.

15:23 Washington. Bush: A great day for democracy.

15:16 Baghdad. Al Zarqawi claims credit for 13 suicide bombings.

15:04 Baghdad. It is 5:00 pm in Iraq and booths close. Election Commission says voters still on line will probably be allowed to cast their ballots.

14:34 Mosul. Assassination attempt on Vice Governor. One bodyguard was killed and another wounded when the convoy of Vice Governor of Mosul Khasro Goran, a Kurd, was attacked.

14:28 Hilla. Suicide bomber blows up bus. Three dead and thirteen wounded. A bus transporting voters to polling stations was blown up, killing 3 and wounding 13.

14:22 Baghdad. Would-be suicide bomber stopped by crowd. A crowd of voters stopped and disarmed a suicide bomber in a town just outside Baghdad.

14:20 Baghdad. At least nine explosions. Nine blasts occurred in succession in Baghad one hour before polls closed.

14:11 Baghdad. Casualty toll is 24 dead, 65 wounded. Attacks in Baghdad, Mosul, Diyala and Baquba claim 24 dead and 65 wounded.

13:34 Baghdad. Government elections commission says turnout is 72%.

13:28 Baghdad. Independent elections commission says turnout is 65%.

13:25 Najaf. 80% turnout at polls.

12:35 Basrah. Long lines. Despite a climate of tension after a powerful explosion this morning, there long lines in front of polling stations.

12:31 Expat Iraqi voter turnout was 65.9% of those registered.

12:29 Baghdad. Updated death toll is 22 in violence across Iraq.
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12:11 Samarra. 30 poll workers kidnapped.

12:06 Baghdad. Voter turnout may be greater than 50 percent.

11:41 Baghdad. UN observer says voter turnout is good. UN observer Carlos Valenzuela, who is in Iraq, says voters are lined up in Mosul, Fallujah and Ramadi.

11:24 Baghdad. Ninth suicide bombing kills two police. A ninth attack on a polling station in Baghdad kills two police. Another two police were killed in a seventh suicide bombing in front of a polling station.

11:10 Baghdad. Eighth suicide bomber targets residence of Justice Minister. Malik al-Hassan was not home when the blast wounded two bodyguards.

11:01 Al Anbar. US Marine killed.

10:58 Baghdad. Seventh suicide bombing kills two police.

10:37 Baghdad. High turnout of women voters.

10:14 Baghdad. Sixth suicide bombing kills 7. A suicide bombing of a polling station in east Baghdad kills seven.

09:57 Baghdad. Fifth suicide bombing of polling station kills one and wounds 16.

09:56 Baghdad. Polls in Sunni triangle do not open. Polls in Latifiyah, Mahmudiyah and Yussufiyah remain closed.

09:49 Erbil. High turnout in Shi'ite and Kurdish areas. Hundreds of voters are reported on line in Suleimanyah in northern Iraq.

09:44 Baghdad. Attacks on polling stations kill 21 and wound more than 40.

09:34 Samarra. Polls open after a one-hour delay.

09:32 Baghdad. Fourteen die in polling station bombings.

09:27 Baghdad. Two more mortar rounds explode.

09:26 Teheran. Massive voter turnout among Kurds. According to Iranian TV at least three important Iraqi Shi'ite ayatollahs have voted: Mohammad Said Hakim, Mohammad Yaqubi and Mohammad Eshaq Fayaz. The Iranian press agency IRNA says turnout in Kurdish areas is massive, despite bombings in Mosul and Kirkuk.

09:23 Basrah. Two mortar attacks. A mortar round exploded in Al-Moharbine district of north Basrah. A second round exploded at the Dour al-Naft polling station without causing victims.

09:20 Baghdad. Fourth suicide bombing in west Baghdad kills one and wounds four.

08:53 Baghdad. Third suicide bombing targets polling station in west Baghdad, killing four.

08:40 Baghdad. Two more explosions.

08:28 Baghdad. Blast a polling station kills woman. A bomb destroys a polling station north of Baghdad, killing one woman and wounding her son and another man.

08:18 Baghdad. Suicide bomber blows self up on voter line outside polling station, killing several people.

07:57 Baghdad. Premier Allawi votes.

07:55 Baghdad. Two more explosions.

07:07 Basrah. Polling station bombed.

07:00 Baghdad. Mortar rounds fired at polling station. Mortar rounds were aimed at the Saaddun Park polling station and at a second polling station in Sadr City.

06:56 Baghdad. Suicide bomber destroys polling station. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside the al-Zarawi Elementary School in the al Mansur district.

06:47 Baghdad. Fifteen blasts in capital. Fifteen blasts were heard near the Green Zone.

06:36 Baghdad. Suicide bomber kills one and wounds four. A suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoing outisde the Zahraa School in west Baghdad.

06:26 Baquba. Gunfire erupts. Gunfire erupts as US troops patrol the city. The polling station at the Al Hassan ibn Ali school in downtown Baquba remains closed.

06:12 Samarra. Mayor cancels elections. The Mayor of Samarra, Taha Taha al-Hindira, says no voting will take place in the city.

05:21 Baghdad. President al Yawar votes.

05:00 Polls open. (7:00 am local time in Iraq)