- Title: VARIOUS: IRAQIS LIVING IN EUROPE CAST THEIR VOTES IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS.
- Date: 28th January 2005
- Summary: (BN08) STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (JANUARY 28, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV/CU/GV: IRAQIS QUEUING OUTSIDE POLLING STATION; SECURITY GUARDS SEARCHING VOTERS (3 SHOTS) 0.12 2. MV/CU: ELECTION WORKER; IRAQI WOMAN REGISTERING TO VOTE, RECEIVING HER VOTING PAPERS AND DIPPING HER FINGER IN INK; MAN VOTING (6 SHOTS) 0.41 (BN08) BERLIN, GERMANY (JANUARY 28, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 3. MV/CU: WOMAN WITH IRAQI FLAG DRAPED OVER SHOULDERS AND CARRYING CHILD, WALKS INTO POLLING STATION; WOMAN DIPPING FINGER INTO INK FOR FINGERPRINT; VOTING; WOMAN HOLDING UP LIST OF CANDIDATES; MORE VOTING (5 SHOTS) 1.17 4. MV/PAN/CU: IRAQIS SINGING AND DANCING (2 SHOTS) 1.28 (BN09) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 28, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 5. GV/MV: VOTER COLLECTING BAGGAGE AFTER PASSING THROUGH X-RAY MACHINE; MAN BEING SEARCHED BY SECURITY PERSONNEL (2 SHOTS) 1.37 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI EXPATRIATE VOTER, SAYING: "To be honest I was dreaming about this day. We are very happy and I wish everyone could do this." 1.51 7. MV/CU/MV/PAN: EXPATRIATE IRAQI VOTER SIGNING DOCUMENT; VOTER DIPPING FINGER IN BLUE INK (USED AS IDENTIFICATION SO VOTERS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE TWICE); VOTER GOING INTO POLLING BOOTH; VOTER EXITING POLLING BOOTH AND PLACING VOTING SLIP IN BALLOT BOX TO APPLAUSE (4 SHOTS) 2.25 (BN10) AMSTERDAM , THE NETHERLANDS (JANUARY 28, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. GV/CU: FAMILY WITH THREE CHILDREN SHOWING ID TO A VOTING OFFICER; INSIDE THE VOTING ROOM CHECKING PASSPORTS (3 SHOTS) 2.45 9. MV/CU: WOMAN SIGNING THE PAPER; WOMAN READY TO PUT HER FINGER IN THE INK; FEMALE VOTER PLACING HER VOTE IN THE BALLOT; MALE VOTER PUTS HIS FINGER IN THE INK TWICE AND KISSES THE FINGER, AS OTHERS LAUGH; (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) IRAQI VOTER, SAYING: "This is the first time in forty years that I can vote. I don't believe it, I have to do it again." (6 SHOTS) 3.41 (BN10) PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 28, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. GV/PAN/CU: POLLING STATION IN PARIS, SECURITY OUTSIDE; SIGN IN ARABIC AND FRENCH SAYING 'THE FUTURE OF IRAQ HAS A VOICE: YOUR VOTE!' (2 SHOTS) 3.54 11. MV/CU/PAN: VOTER PLACING HIS PAPER IN THE BOX; FULL LIST OF CANDIDATE NAMES; POSTER FOR THE VOTE SHOWING PEOPLE WITH IRAQI FLAG (3 SHOTS) 4.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 12th February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN/BERLIN, GERMANY/LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM/AMSTERDAM , THE NETHERLANDS/PARIS, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: Sweden Netherlands England United Kingdom France Germany
- Reuters ID: LVA8Q99TBLYURQHKR3NS0UMGU9X5
- Story Text: Iraqis living in Europe cast their votes in
parliamentary elections.
Iraqis living abroad joyfully cast the first ballots
on Friday (January 28) in their homeland's landmark election and urged
countrymen back home to defy insurgents
and vote for a democratic Iraq.
Iraqis living in Sweden queued in snowy weather outside
the polling station in Stockholm to cast their ballot on
the first day of voting in elections to form a new Iraqi
government.
The International Organisation of Migration will enable
a total of 280,303 Iraqi exiles who have registered to cast
ballots in polling stations in 36 cities in 14 countries.
Over 31 thousand voters are registered in Sweden, the
second highest number among Iraqi communities worldwide,
about 80,000 Iraqis live in Sweden.
Iraqis living in Germany enthusiastically cast the
first ballots in their homeland's landmark election and
urged countrymen back home to defy insurgents and vote for
a democratic Iraq.
Security was tight around the polling venue with police
cutting off traffic and setting up roadblocks. Voters had
to pass tight security to get into the station.
There are roughly 60,000 Iraqis living in Germany who
are eligible to vote, the estimates for Iraqi exiles living
in the country range from 70,000 to 90,000.
A steady stream of Iraqis turned out in London to cast
their ballots in rainy weather as the polls opened at
0700GMT.
At the Wembley polling station in north London people
applauded as each ballot was cast, with voters grinning
broadly and holding up their hands to show the purple
voting mark.
"To be honest I was dreaming about this day. We are very
happy and I wish everyone could do this," an Iraqi living
in London said.
Iraqis living in the Netherlands also began casting
their ballots on Friday. One estimate said there were about
45,000 Iraqis currently living in the Netherlands and
17,000 out of the 30,000 eligible for voting have
registered and are all expected to cast their ballots from
Friday to Sunday evening.
In Amsterdam, one of the three voting centres in the
Netherlands, the turnout has been slightly higher than
expected for the first morning. About 100 joyful voters
cast their ballots in just over an hour.
But most of them are expected to vote over the weekend.
The Iraqi Kurdish community is expected to organize a
procession on Saturday (January 29), with traditional
clothing and music, and come to queue together before
casting their ballots, despite dissenting Kurds calling
for an election boycott and Kurdish independence.
"This is the first time in forty years that I can vote.
I don't believe it, I have to do it again," an Iraqi voter
living in Amsterdam said.
Over one thousand Iraqi voters were expected to vote in
the French capital Paris but a lack of polling places meant
some voters faced long journeys to participate.
Long distances to travel to polling stations and the
short time to organize the vote put many off registering
according to the Geneva-based International Organization
for Migration. Of the estimated 1.2 million eligible Iraqis
living overseas, less than a quarter, or 280,303,
registered in 14 countries worldwide.
When voting concludes on Sunday (January 30), all the
overseas counts will be sent in to the operation's
headquarters in Amman, Jordan, which will forward them on
to Baghdad.
The results will be announced several days later in
conjunction with the results from Baghdad.
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