http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html
Count begins in Iraq's vote on draft charter
Turnout high in some spots; few reports of violence
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- After decades of repression and years of war and insurgency, millions of Iraqis let their voices be heard Saturday, voting in a historic constitutional referendum whose results could significantly alter the way the country is governed.
An Iraqi election official reported early signs of high voter turnout in eight of Iraq's 18 provinces, but the United Nations' top elections official said it was too early to be certain.
Fareed Ayar, spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, said initial figures show more than two-thirds of eligible voters cast ballots in Baghdad and provinces in northern and central Iraq.
By contrast, less than a third of the voters turned out in one southern province. Turnout estimates for the rest of the country ranged between 33 and 66 percent.
Carina Perelli, the U.N. elections official, said the early estimates are little better than guesses and don't take into account the possibility of irregularities in different provinces.
With security tight, few incidents of insurgent violence were reported.
Election officials, some working by lantern light, began the hand count as darkness fell.
Rings of Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops closely guarded the polls. Vehicles were barred from the streets, so voters walked to the polls.
Iraqis marked paper ballots to indicate whether they approved or rejected a draft constitution setting up the democratic framework to govern the nation.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari were among the first to cast ballots.
CNN correspondents in different parts of the country reported that voting had been brisk. (See video of one of the polls -- 3:04)
CNN's Nic Robertson, who covered the January vote for the transitional National Assembly and is in Iraq now, said voting appeared to be heavier this time.
And at least one polling site in Diyala province -- which has seen its share of insurgent violence -- reported a high turnout exceeding the 60 percent turnout seen in January elections. About 15.5 million of Iraq's 26 million people are eligible to vote.
"All regions are voting and all regions are voting steadily," U.N. elections official Carina Perelli said a few hours before polls closed.
Attacks meant to stop voting
As expected, insurgents attempted Saturday to disrupt the voting -- but no major attacks were reported.
An Iraqi police patrol near a polling station in Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb shortly after voting started. Two police officers were wounded, according to to an Iraqi police official with Baghdad emergency police.
At about noon, a civilian was killed when a sniper opened fire from a building across from a polling station, police said. The sniper, who may have been targeting police, was not captured.
On Friday, a bomb attack on the main power line into Baghdad knocked out power to about 70 percent of the capital, an official from Iraq's electricity ministry said. The cities of Beiji and Musayyib were also affected.
Power began gradually returning in the city early Saturday morning.
Sunnis' objections and crucial role
Chances for approval of the constitution increased considerably Wednesday when the Iraqi Islamic Party -- the largest Sunni Arab party -- dropped its opposition, after the transitional assembly agreed to consider changes in the framework once a general election is held in December.
Sunni Arab groups have objected to provisions that would grant more autonomy to Shiite areas in the south and Kurdish areas in the north. They also object to provisions that exclude elements of former dictator Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated Baath Party.
Friday, insurgents attacked four offices of the Iraqi Islamic Party, which made the last-minute deal with the country's governing Shiite-Kurdish coalition to support a "yes" vote on the constitution. No casualties were reported.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party, Ayad al-Samarraie, said the attacks would not change the party's decision to support the constitution.
"Those who could not convince people by words, they want to terrify them by these actions," he said.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, demurred Friday when asked if he thought the draft constitution would be approved.
"We'll have to see. Now it's in the hands of the Iraqis," he told CNN's "The Situation Room."
"The draft constitution, which a few days ago could have been characterized as a Shia-Kurdish document, now has got a substantial amount of Sunni support."
In the mixed Shiite-Sunni area of Baquba about one-third of the local population had visited the polling stations by midday.
How the vote must go
The draft constitution -- hammered out after months of contentious, painstaking negotiations by lawmakers in Iraq's transitional National Assembly -- must be approved by a majority of Iraq's voters.
With strong support in the Shiite and Kurdish communities, which together acount for more than three-quarters of the population, that threshold is expected to be met.
However, the constitution will fail if it was rejected by at least two-thirds of the voters in at least three of the country's 18 provinces. With many Sunni Arab groups opposing the document, rejection is considered possible in four provinces where Sunnis predominate. (Full story)
Rejection of the constitution would be a serious blow to Iraq's political evolution since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003. The transitional assembly would be dissolved, and the process of writing a constitution would have to start all over after a new assembly is elected in December.
By contrast, if the constitution is approved, Iraqis would vote in December for a new, permanent government -- possibly clearing the way for the United States and its coalition allies to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
TV appeals from both sides
In a country once governed by the will of Saddam -- where dissent and debate could result in death -- both sides in the constitutional referendum took their case to the people in the days leading up to the vote with emotional television appeals. (Watch efforts to push Iraqis to the polls -- 2:30)
In one pro-constitution message, a warm female voice speaks over the national anthem as images of people casting ballots are shown.
"Let's vote for a better future, not a past of fear," the narrator says. "Let's vote for our strength and not our weakness."
Anti-constitution forces responded with a message portraying the document as the result of the U.S.-led invasion, rather than the product of a homegrown democratic movement.
"Resist the occupation by voting down the constitution," the message says.
As a central part of their strategy, opponents complained that Iraqis have not had adequate opportunity to evaluate the complex constitution because many have just received a copy of it in the last few days.
And some Sunni Arab leaders argued that the constitution is the work of Shiite leaders too cozy with neighboring Iran, where Shiites predominate.
"Only those who are pro-Iran and they worked for Iran, they want to pass this constitution because they want to link part of Iraq to Iran," said Salih al-Mutlag, an official who regularly speaks for a faction of Sunni Arab lawmakers.
But in a recent interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said, "I hope and I pray that the Iraqi people will say yes, yes, loud and clear for this constitution."
"It is a huge step toward building a new Iraq, and this is a milestone," he said.
CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman, Arab Affairs editor Octavia Nasr and producers Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.