Thousands of Iraqis to vote in U.S.

DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) -- Akeel AlMosawi was so excited to cast his ballot in the Iraqi national election Tuesday that he arrived at the polling place a half-hour early.

The truck driver was in a group of about 10 voters who stood in line outside a Dearborn banquet hall, waiting for the polls to open at 9 a.m.

"I can't wait. I can't sleep last night," AlMosawi said.

Iraqi expatriates across the globe will help elect Iraq's 275-member National Assembly, which will legislate in the coming four years and choose the first fully constitutional government since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule in 2003.

Organizers said they expect tens of thousands of Iraqis to vote Tuesday through Thursday at polling sites around the country, including in Pomona, California; Nashville, Tennessee; and areas outside San Francisco, California; Washington D.C., and Chicago, Illinois.

Election Day for most citizens in Iraq is set for Thursday.

Some Iraqis who live in the United States were planning on traveling hundreds of miles to cast a vote.

"We'll drive 250 miles and be happy about it," said 35-year-old Albert Rasho, who plans to travel with three friends from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Pomona. He left Iraq 15 years ago to avoid mandatory military service under Saddam Hussein. "I want to see my country free after all Saddam did."

Eligible expatriate voters may be U.S. citizens, but must be 18 years old or older, born in Iraq and hold citizenship there. Iraqis born in the United States who can prove their father is Iraqi also may vote.

Like Rasho, many expatriates have not been home since fleeing Iraq. When the U.S. military toppled Hussein, many thought they could soon return and visit family still in the country. But insurgents and suicide bombers have since led daily attacks that have claimed thousands of Iraqi and U.S. lives.

"My family told me not to come because of the situation," said Ridiya Al-Marayati, 62, a Shiite Arab housewife in Pomona who canceled a trip to visit her sister and elderly mother in Baghdad last year.

Only about 10 percent of the estimated 240,000 eligible Iraqi voters in the United States cast ballots last January for a constitutional assembly, Iraq's first free elections in decades.

Organizers expect the numbers will be much higher this time because at stake is a permanent government and expatriates can register and vote on the same day. Last time they had to make two trips.

"We've got people calling from as far away as Canada, saying they plan on coming to vote," said Mosadek Alattar, who is in charge of California voting sites. "This is becoming like a celebration for us."