Iraqi election officials start the vote count at a polling station in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Overall, violence was light as Iraqi voters faced tight security measures Thursday while casting ballots in the first parliamentary election since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
An Iraqi woman folds her ballot before depositing it in the ballot box at an election center in Baqouba, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqis voted in a historic parliamentary election, with strong turnout reported in Sunni Arab areas that had shunned balloting last January.
A Iraqi poll worker checks the rolls for registered voters at an election center in Baqouba, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. The worker's finger is stained with ink, signifying that he voted.
An Iraqi man holds his ink stained hand behind his back signifying that he voted, near Baqouba, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqis voted in a historic parliamentary election Thursday, with strong turnout reported in Sunni Arab areas that had shunned balloting last January, bolstering U.S. hopes of calming the insurgency enough to begin withdrawing its troops.
Iraqi children walk down a street in the town of Az Zubayr in southern Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Traffic has been banned during elections for a 275-member National Assembly.
Iraqi women stand together after voting in the Iraqi elections at a polling station in the town of Az Zubayr in southern Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly are taking place across the country.
Members of the Iraqi Electoral Commission wait for voters at a polling station in the town of Fallujah, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. A steady stream of Iraqi voters walked to polling sites nationwide to elect their first full-term parliament since Saddam Hussein's overthrow.
Indelible ink is on the fingers of a supporter of the Shiite religious bloc United Iraqi Alliance, referring to the party's election list number 555, during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqi voters faced tight security measures Thursday as they cast ballots in the first parliamentary election since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., inspects a ballot paper in a polling station in al-Hillah, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqis voted in a historic parliamentary election Thursday, with strong turnout reported in Sunni Arab areas that had shunned balloting last January.
A man on crutches walks in the early morning mist outside a polling station in the town of Az Zubayr in southern Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly took place across Iraq on Thursday.
An Iraqi woman waits to vote at a polling station in the Iraqi town of Fallujah on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Despite continuing violence and intimidation in Iraq's insurgent heartland, turnout for Thursday's election in Fallujah, once the effective headquarters of the insurgency, is expected to be high.
An Iraqi woman arrives to cast her vote at a polling station in the town of Az Zubayr in southern Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly are taking place across the country.
Men wait at the al-Ma'ali elementary school polling station to cast their vote for the Iraqi parliamentary elections in Mosul in northern Iraq on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. The election will select a National Assembly that will serve for four years.
Iraqi insurgents secure an election center in Ramadi, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqis voted in a historic parliamentary election Thursday and Sunnis appeared to be turning out in large numbers -- even in insurgent bastions such as Ramadi and Haqlaniyah -- in an effort to curb the power of Shiite clerical parties who now control the government.
Iraqi men and women stand in line outside a polling station in Karbala, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Voters faced tight security measures Thursday as they cast ballots in the first parliamentary election since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
U.S. Army soldiers with the 1/10th Mountain Divisions personal security detachment receive a briefing at Camp Liberty, Baghdad, on Dec. 15, 2005, before departing on a reconnaissance patrol supporting the brigades senior leadership assessment of the security situation.
An Iraqi dips a finger in a ink pot being held by an official to cast a vote at a polling station in the town of Az Zubayr in southern Iraq, Thursday Dec. 15, 2005.
Two Iraqi men look through a hole caused by a mortar shell that hit a house in Al-Sadr City east of Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. The level of violence around Iraq appeared to be low Thursday as Iraqis voted for a new parliament. In a different incident, a young girl was injured when a mortar targeting a polling station in northern Baghdad missed and landed near her house, police said.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi prepares his ballot in a booth at a polling station in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqis voted in a historic parliamentary election, with strong turnout reported in Sunni Arab areas that had shunned the election last January.
Two Iraqi soldiers stand guard on the roof of an election center in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Iraqi voters faced tight security measures Thursday as they cast ballots in a historic parliamentary election the U.S. hopes will build democracy and lay the groundwork for American troops to withdraw.