Iraqi expatriates sign up to vote

An Iraqi physician visiting his son in Delaware, a Philadelphia police officer and a family from Northern Virginia were among the hundreds of current or former Iraqi citizens who converged on a Prince George’s County polling place yesterday to register to vote in their country’s first independent election in nearly 50 years.

The Iraqis, many traveling in groups of two or three, trickled into a hastily created polling place at the New Carrollton Ramada Inn conference center between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Each spent about three minutes providing documentation of their age and their nationality and promised to return to vote in less than two weeks.

“It’s been steadily slow,” said Ali Hussain, a presiding officer with the International Organization for Migration, which is organizing the elections at five sites in the United States and many more around the world. In the United States, registration also took place in Los Angeles; Nashville, Tenn.; Chicago; and Detroit.

Nationwide, about 240,000 Iraqis are eligible to vote. Voters are being asked to pick members of the 275-seat assembly, which will have a one-year mandate. The panel’s responsibilities will include electing a president and two deputy presidents and drafting Iraq’s constitution.

Nouman Shubbar, 41, a police sergeant in Philadelphia, said he left his home at 10 a.m. and drove 2 hours so he could be among the first to register.

“It’s a historical event,” he said. “I’m very happy, and I’m very proud that for the first time we have free elections.”

Mr. Shubbar brought his 7- and 10-year-old sons and said he was looking forward to returning for the vote on Jan. 28 to 30. He said he has talked with many others in Philadelphia’s Iraqi community who plan to register.

Osama Al-Moosawi lives in Delaware and traveled to New Carrollton yesterday morning with his father, a physician who lives in Iraq, and his two sisters. His parents are in the United States on a six-month visa and did not want to miss the opportunity to vote.

Mr. Al-Moosawi, 32, was virtually speechless as his family recorded the event on film, posing for numerous pictures in front of the registration table.

“It’s amazing, unbelievable,” said Mr. Al-Moosawi, who has lived in the United States for eight years. “It’s just unbelievable.”

Organizers say they expect about 22,000 people to register in New Carrollton before Sunday’s deadline, with busloads expected to arrive from Boston, New York and Philadelphia later in the week.

The run-up to the registration period has been plagued by confusion among potential voters, who have struggled to find out where, when or how to vote and whether they are eligible. Some were frustrated by the limited number of polling centers and by a prohibition on mail-in ballots and Internet voting because of fears of fraud.

Voter registration is open to those 18 and older who are present or former Iraqi citizens, who were born in Iraq or whose fathers are Iraqi. Voters must have documents to prove they are eligible.

For the most part, the first day went smoothly. A little more than 100 volunteers manned 15 booths separated by blue curtains and adorned with posters and instructions written in English and Arabic.

Hoda Al-Sabbak of Arlington brought her three daughters to witness her and her mother registering to vote.

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