More details from Reuters on the blasts. Other voting seems to be proceeding just fine, without violence. Up1: Police report the mortar attack did not hit the western Baghdad polling station, but instead a house behind the station. There were casualties. Source: Christian Amanpour @ CNN

Iraq's first multiparty polls in half a century have begun at dawn, elections intended to unite the country but which could instead foment sectarian strife and which insurgents have vowed to turn into a bloodbath. A suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi security checkpoint protecting a polling station in west Baghdad shortly after voting began, killing a policeman, police sources said on Sunday. They said two Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were wounded in the attack near the Zahraa school, used as a voting centre. Full Story from Reuters via swissinfo.

Iraq's historic polls open (AFP via TurkishPress.com)

Washington Times: Great expectations in Iraq.

Oliver North: Bombs, bullets, ballots (Washington Times)

AP story on the polls opening, and on the few sketchy details of the blast(s). [link update #1]

The story notes Turnout was expected to be low in the early hours. Most attacks occur in the morning, and many Iraqis were likely to wait to see if rebels carry through with threats.

Reuters is reporting: "a blast outside a polling station in west Baghdad, some casualties -police".

Up1: Christine Amanpour on CNN claimed she heard multiple explosions, and also reported that police sources say the explosion near (at?) the polling station was mortar fire. The cause of the explosions are often uninformed guesses, so I caution readers not to presume a source until it has been confirmed.

CNN anchor Charles Hodson, from London, talks to a correspondent in Bacquba about two polling centers where election workers have not yet shown up. Although the correspondent mentions that other polling centers in the city are up and running, with people voting, Hodson queries the correspondent "[...] absolute disaster, isn't it? I mean, this is the nightmare scenario where it's impossible to hold the election"

CNN continues to forecast doom, 57 minutes into polling.

New Straits Times (Malaysia) and Fox News cover the polls opening.

Iraq's first multiparty polls in half a century began at dawn on Sunday, elections intended to unite the country but which could instead foment sectarian strife and which insurgents have vowed to turn into a bloodbath. (Reuters)

The White House is keenly watching the Iraqi election because it could affect U.S. military action there and sap President Bush's political strength here and abroad if the balloting doesn't lead to stability. (AP via The Guardian [UK])

Only 40 minutes into the quite peaceful elections, and CNN is, quote, "following the trail of blood". This was preceded by pre-taped scenes of violence, and scenes of Iraqis grieving over loved ones who died in terrorist attacks.

Is everyone else getting the same coverage on other networks?

Voters trickled into polling stations under tight security Sunday in Iraq, casting ballots despite promises by insurgents to sabotage the country's first free election in a half-century. (AP)

Also CNN, BBC initial reports.

Blogs:

Roger Simon is liveblogging the elections.

Belgravia Dispatch has an Iraqi elections special.

Jeff Jarvis has a roundup of Iraqi blogger opinions.

A CNN correspondent asks the senior editor of "Arab Affairs" what role the Arab media has in determining the legitimacy of today's elections.

In your editor's opinion, the Iraqi people not the Arab media largely determine the legitimacy.

Iraqis vote

Live shots from Iraq are on U.S. television, of Iraqis voting in this historic election. Liveblogging continues as events unfold.

The streets are relatively quiet as people just wake up.

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])