New York Times: Outside Baghdad, Ink-Stained Fingers and Hope for Future

Reuters: Undeterred by scattered violence, Iraqis voted in overwhelming numbers in an election on Thursday, with minority Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last poll determined not to miss out on power again. Turnout in 10 hours of voting was at least 10 million, or 67 percent, Election Commission chief Hussein Hendawi told Reuters, much higher than the 58 percent who voted in the previous election on January 30. The demand to vote was so strong that polling stations were kept open an extra hour to allow those waiting in line to cast ballots. In Saddam Hussein's home province more than 80 percent of voters turned out, an electoral official said.