Iraqis flock to the polls to defy insurgents

Seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces, including key Sunni Arab-majority ones, had a turnout of more than 66% in the country’s landmark referendum on a constitution, election officials said today.

The officials, Farid Ayar and Hamdiya al-Husseini, did not have overall turnout figures or an indication of results.

More than 66% of voters cast ballots in the three crucial provinces that could decide the vote – Salahuddin, Diyala and Ninevah, each of which has a Sunni majority but also significant Shiite or Kurdish populations.

Sunni opponents are hoping to get a two-thirds majority ‘no’ vote in these provinces, which would defeat the constitution. Sunnis appeared to have turned out in surprisingly large numbers, many of them saying they were voting to reject, suggesting the final results could be close.

Other provinces with a similar rate of participation were Baghdad and Tamim - with mixed Sunni, Kurdish and Shiite populations – and the overwhelmingly Shiite Babil and Karbala, in the south.