Iraqis vote with little violence

BAGHDAD — Iraqis turned out in force yesterday — including Sunni Arabs who boycotted the nationwide election in January — to vote “yes” or “no” on a constitution viewed as a bellwether in efforts to build a democracy and stop terrorist attacks.

The day went smoothly with few attacks, from the time whole families began trickling into the polling stations early in the morning until voting ended at 5 p.m.

Officials estimated the turnout as high as 60 percent, slightly higher than the 58 percent of Iraqi voters who braved bombs and gunfire in January to elect a parliament.

“It’s like a party,” said Jenan, a 45-year-old oil engineer, dressed in conservative Muslim garb. “This is very important, because this is about our country, our future.”

She spoke at an elementary school in Baghdad, where special areas set up to search women before voting turned into neighborhood gatherings, full of smiles and laughter.

Children took over the capital’s normally busy streets to play soccer as couples strolled in the surreal quiet to their polling centers, blocked off by razor wire and metal hedgehog fencing.

There was little of the triumphant finger waving — of digits dipped in ink to prevent multiple voting — and euphoria that accompanied the national election in January.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces were out in full force, with Iraqis guarding voting places and Americans providing backup with armed patrols and helicopters swooping overhead.

In Baghdad, except for five minor attacks and some drive-by shootings, all was quiet until a loud explosion echoed over the buildings: three 120-mm rockets landed in the fortified green zone.

“They are just sending a message, a reminder,” said one U.S. security officer working in the city. “It’s like they are saying, ‘We can’t get to you today, but we will be back.’ ”

Many Shi’ites walked out into the hot sun to vote, some women in body-covering black veils, some in jeans and long-sleeved shirts. All appeared to follow the advice of their religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who urged a “yes” vote.

“The constitution is a sign of civilization,” said Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari as he cast his vote in the early morning. “This constitution has come after heavy sacrifices. It is a new birth.”

President Bush, spending the weekend at Camp David, said through a spokesman: “Today’s vote deals a severe blow to the ambitions of the terrorists. A clear message to the world that the people of Iraq will decide the future of their country through peaceful elections, not violent insurgency.”

A key indicator of success or failure of yesterday’s vote will depend as much, if not more, on whether the nation’s Sunni minority cast ballots as the outcome.

Reports from the Sunni city of Fallujah said that thousands of people voted this time, while almost no one voted in January.

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