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 A woman looks at the ballot sheet.
Voting may be routine for us in Britain - it is anything but for the Iraqis.
One of our translators here in the Baghdad bureau came back from voting in such a state of high emotion and spoke about the experience with such eloquence that we asked him to record his thoughts.
Here is his transcript..
I went to the polling station about 6.45 in the morning to vote for the people I feel are my representatives. The streets were nearly empty. Few people at that time were in the streets.
On my way to the polling station I met American troops. I stopped when I saw them. One soldier said to me, "Please, sir, go on your journey and have a save one."
When I was very close to the polling station there were barriers and wires and after that a checkpoint of Iraqi police and National Guards, some of them putting masks on their faces.
At the checkpoint, there were about 20 people waiting for it to open. At 7.20 to 7.30 they started searching people. There was a piece of paper at the checkpoint with some things written on it that people were not allowed to carry on them, for example mobile phones, cameras, filming equipment, bags, even women's small bags, and pens.
When I entered the polling stations, gentlemen their welcomed me and told me to follow their instructions. I showed them my documents. After that I registered my name and chose the list I felt met the needs of the Iraqi people from my views. I put the paper in the glass box. In the room there were three boxes and four desks and at the same table of each box there was a small can full of ink. After finishing voting everyone must put his finger into this ink. It will not disappear for two or three days even if you keep washing it.
After finishing voting I left the room. I saw old men and women. I talked to an old man whose two sons were executed by the Saddam regime, one in 1981 and the other in 1993. This old man told me, now he is not sad about his sons, because now he is voting to decide the fate of the Iraqi people and he is one of them. A man with tears. At that moment the tears came suddenly to my eyes unconsciously. I found the voters very happy and they said in spite of all the difficult situations and the bombs we are going to vote for the future of Iraq.
After that, some bomb sounds were heard. Some people laughed and said, "Never mind that, we are going to vote." Then I left the polling stations with the best smiles of the gentlemen there and the police.
For myself, it is a historical moment to vote and decide the future without any pressures. It is the best time for the Iraqi people to choose freely their representatives and decide their future and participate in the building of the new Iraq.
Moreover, I can say that the dictatorship has gone forever and there is the opportunity for the coming generations to vote freely. Thanks to God for everything and I ask God to bless this country and help us and all the honest people in the world.
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