Polls opened 6 minutes ago, as of this writing.

Turnout in Basra, like the rest of southern Iraq where Shi'ites, who make up about 60 percent of Iraq's population, are in the majority, is expected to be strong. But threats remain and local security forces are taking no chances. (AP)

Tension clouds Iraq's Fallujah on eve of elections (XINHUA online)

A senior Shi'ite cleric urged Iraqis on Saturday to boycott Sunday's landmark elections and take up arms to expel U.S. forces from the country. "The current elections are a conspiracy to divide and destroy Iraq," Ayatollah Ahmed al-Hassani al-Baghdadi told Reuters on the eve of Iraq's first multi-party poll in 50 years. (AP)

Iraq on a Knife Edge. (Gulf Daily News)

Editorial: Challenge of Elections (Arab News)

scotsman.com: Iraq's choice: Terror or freedom

Another editorial from the Washington Post.

Editorial: Iraq election: Freedom's bloody road. (The Independent [UK])