Iraqi referendum roundup

Democratic politics in Iraq today:

A day that U.S. and Iraqi leaders feared could turn bloody turned out to be the most peaceful in months.
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"The government can't just sew together an outfit and dress the people up by force. We do not see ourselves or see our future in this draft," Gazwan Abdul Sattar, 27-year-old Sunni teacher, said after voting "no."
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"This constitution will at last give the Kurds their lost rights," the 34-year-old housewife [Bahar Saleh] said, coming from the polls with the red-and-green Kurdish flag wrapped around her body.
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"Today, I came to vote because I am tired of terrorists, and I want the country to be safe again," said Zeinab Sahib, a 30-year-old mother of three, one of the first voters at a school in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Karrada in Baghdad.

"This constitution means unity and hope."
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"I believe this constitution will secure women on a lot of issues and will give them a good representation in the National Assembly," Muna Ali said.
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"I'm 75 years old. Everything is finished for me. But I'm going to vote because I want a good future for my children," [Said Ahmad] Fliha said.

More politics in Iraq today:

"I came to vote for Iraq," said Fayek al-Ani, a businessman in a collared shirt walking into a polling center in downtown Baghdad. "The most important thing is that I came to vote."
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"I wrote no for there are a lot of clauses that contradict each other, which gives the idea it is not solid. Also, I found that the federalism is not for unity but to divide Iraq."

And a little bit of politics:

"I came here to participate and not make the same mistake we made at the last election," said Yassin Humadi, 57, in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, west of Baghdad.

"We will not allow the others to control the Sunnis again."
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In Hilla, a predominantly Shi'ite city south of Baghdad, one college professor, Aman Mehdi Jabber, said: "It's a new page for the future and something important for the Arab world."
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Iraq's Electoral Commission and U.N. monitors said things went well, with the vast majority of polling sites open.

Voting, some against, some for:

In other Sunni areas, turnout was described as surprisingly brisk. According to voting reports received at 11:30 a.m. by U.S. Army officials in Salah Aldin, an overwhelmingly Sunni province north of Baghdad, 33,000 had already voted in the town of Baiji, 22,000 in Awaj, 17,000 in Tikrit and 20,000 in Samarra. Voting in Samarra was so heavy that polling places ran out of ballots in the early afternoon, officials said, and more were brought in under U.S. support.

Sunnis boycotted Iraq's parliamentary elections in January, and Sunni leaders sent conflicting messages to their followers about whether to vote in Saturday's referendum. That confusion and insurgent threats to target voters led to uncertainty about whether Sunnis would turnout en masse to cast ballots.
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Elsewhere in town [Tikrit], Iraqi Army Lt. Mahmoud Nadhum urged his colleagues to reject the charter "because it calls for separation and sectarianism," he explained to a reporter. "We don't want this constitution because we want a unified Iraq."
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"I'll say yes, yes to the constitution with all 10 of my fingers," said Nada Abdul Hassan Akashi, a 26-year-old mother clad in a black abaya, or traditional robe, who came to vote with her husband and three young daughters. "My daughters were so excited, and I wanted the new generation to see democracy."
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"This is only a first step on the long road to build the constitutional process," he [Hussein Rustam] said. "And we should all take part in the process, because Iraq is home for all and we all must agree to live together."

A UN view:

The top United Nations envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, called the referendum "a very important benchmark in the political transition" and stressed that "whatever the choice of the Iraqis the political process will proceed".

Hammorabi:

This is a historic day and the political process moving forward in spite of the efforts of all of the evils to disable or delay it.

Iraq the Model:

I met one friend on the way and when I asked him what would his vote be he said that he hasn't decided yet "if I voted yes I would be approving some articles that I don't agree with and if I voted no we would go back to where we started from..."... and that was really refreshing because this guy who used to believe in conspiracy theories and stuff like "what America wants is what's going to happen" now feels that his vote can make a difference.

Iraq Pundit:

It really is better to see the referendum through the eyes of the Iraqi people. After all, it is our country that's at stake here. For us... what's important is the participation. The more people feel part of the political process, the more likely they will work to move the country forward. The last minute changes to the charter last week were good ones. Some are too specific to Iraq to be appreciated by outsiders. Iraqis can now focus on the December elections, which hopefully will bring legislators who will work for Iraq.

I really believe by voting today, the Iraqis reminded all those commentators that there are people in Iraq. Some 15 million registered to vote, but few supposed experts consider them. Too often when we read opinions or see talking heads on television, the supposed experts discuss the failures of the Bush administration and the battles with al Qaeda and so on. The experts really do present a picture of U.S. forces fighting in some wasteland against some crazed religious fanatics. They rarely make references to the population. If they do mention Iraqis, the experts only do so to say the people are like sheep who will follow the instructions of their religious leaders.

Of course, like in any country, many voters follow the instructions of their religious leaders. But, again like any other country, countless Iraqis vote as they wish. And at the same time, Iraqis establish a presence when they cast their ballots. And establishing a presence is important to show the so-called experts that there are humans here. And it is also important to show the terrorists that the killers don't represent Iraqis.