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The San Diego Union-Tribune

Sensing history for homeland

Expatriate Iraqis feel honored to vote for National Assembly


December 14, 2005

EL CAJON – Iraqi expatriates flocked to the Royal Palace restaurant's banquet hall yesterday to cast their ballots in Iraq's historic parliamentary elections, emerging with purple ink-stained index fingers and feelings of accomplishment.

HOWARD LIPIN / Union-Tribune
Inside the polling center in El Cajon yesterday, Halawa Kareem of Chandler, Ariz., waited for her son, Salam, to finish with his ballot for the Iraqi parliamentary election. The Royal Palace restaurant is one of seven U.S. locations where expatriate Iraqis can vote.
Some spent hours traveling to the voting center on Broadway, one of seven in the nation. Voting continues today and tomorrow.

Many said they felt like they were a part of history and were helping bring about change in the Middle East.

"This is very joyful. This is something you cannot describe," said Taha Mohammed, 35, who drove six hours from Gilbert, Ariz., to vote early yesterday. "For me, I did something for my country, I did something for my people. . . . You are a big part of building a democracy in Iraq."

His wife, Lamya Yadullah, 33, said it was an honor to vote. Yadullah said she left Iraq when she was a child and her father had worked for Kurdish political parties.

"As a Kurd, we were discriminated against by the Saddam government," she said. "We are happy about him getting out of the regime and the regime change."

Voters are electing a 275-member National Assembly that will rule Iraq over the next four years. They are making their selection from a four-page ballot that lists more than 300 political parties, representing some 7,000 candidates.

The ballots are written in Arabic, and each voter selects one number for their party from the 336 choices. Site manager Thair Al Bayati said most voters already knew how they were casting their ballots before entering the polling place and finished the process in a few minutes.

The United States is one of 15 countries outside Iraq where expatriates can vote. While voters in Iraq selected a representative for their province, 45 seats in the assembly will be selected from voters outside the country.

After casting their ballots, voters were directed to dip a finger in a small bottle of purple dye to ensure they would only vote once. The dye leaves a stain that takes several days to wash away.

Absentee voting

What: Iraqi parliamentary election

Who can vote: Iraqis living abroad and born on or before Dec. 31, 1987, are eligible. U.S.-born Iraqis who can prove a parent is Iraqi also can vote. Voters can register and vote on the same day.

When: Voting continues today and tomorrow. Polls are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Royal Palace restaurant, 1340 Broadway, El Cajon

Phone: (619) 442-9900/9919 or (877) 472-7937

Web site:

Inside the polling center yesterday morning, lines moved quickly, the atmosphere was relaxed, and the process appeared well-organized.

Security was tight. Patrol cars from El Cajon police and the California Highway Patrol were parked in the lot, and everyone who entered the hall was required to pass through a metal detector.

Women wearing scarves and traditional dress cast their ballots alongside voters wearing jeans or casual sports-logo apparel.

Asmaa Alzayadi, a 32-year-old Shiite Muslim wearing a black scarf covering her head, said she voted in the election "for freedom and peace. No more war. No more fighting."

People can register and vote on the same day as long as they produce documents showing they are at least 18 years old, were born in Iraq or have a parent who is an Iraqi citizen, Bayati said.

That's a big change from January, when Iraqis elected a 275-member transitional national assembly. During that election, the closest polling center was in Irvine and eligible voters were required to register in advance.

"People need only half an hour to vote, while last year they needed two days," Bayati said.

San Diego County is home to as many as 30,000 Iraqis, including many Chaldeans, a Christian minority in Iraq, who have settled in East County.

Bayati said he doesn't know how many voters might cast ballots at the El Cajon site over the three-day period. Voting sites were also set up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, Nashville and Washington, D.C.

Zohair Alameri, who helped organize the El Cajon site, said the preparation and training for the complex election was completed in just four days.

"It was really a race against time," he said.

One of the first to finish voting yesterday was 63-year-old Michael Sitto, a La Mesa resident who works as an architect for the Navy.

Sitto, who is a Chaldean, said voting was easier this time because he didn't have to drive to Irvine.

"It is a great day for the Iraqi people. This is the start of a new democratic system, a democratic country in the Middle East," he said. "At the same time, there has been a great sacrifice by the American people. We don't want to lose sight of that."

Karen Kucher: (619) 293-1350;

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