Early voting under way in Iraq Brian Murphy, The Associated Press 01/28/2009
Salwa Majid, seen with her newborn son, holds up her ink-stained finger after she cast her vote from her hospital bed in the country's provincial elections in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
BAGHDAD - Soldiers, hospital patients and even prisoners filled ballot boxes Wednesday in special early voting for provincial elections that will be a test for Iraqi forces trying to prevent violence and could set up future political showdowns for Iraq's leadership.
A smooth election could encourage supporters of a fast-paced withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by next year, but any major irregularities or bloodshed in Saturday's main voting could raise worries about the readiness of Iraq's institutions.
There were reports of only sporadic attacks during the early voting - called so police and military units could cast ballots before being deployed for the full-scale vote.
It also included prisons and many hospitals, including a maternity ward in the southern city of Najaf where 21- year-old Salwa Majid filled out a ballot with one hand and cradled her hours-old son with the other.
"It's my duty to vote for a better Iraq," she said, showing off her index finger tinted with purple ink - used in Iraq to identify voters.
In the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, hundreds of soldiers in camouflage uniforms streamed into an elementary school to stuff their paper ballots into clear plastic bins.
"We have come here to vote as a kind of defiance to the terrorists," said Sgt. Abdul- Jabar Khalf.
Later in Kirkuk province, gunmen killed two police officers guarding a school used as an early election center, said police and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In prisons across Iraq, inmates in orange jumpsuits filed in one by one to vote.
Faraj al-Haidari, the head of the election commission, said voting was open to any detainee awaiting trial - even those accused of insurgent attacks or links to al-Qaida in Iraq - but those sentenced to more than five years in prison were not eligible. The rules also covered thousands of Iraqis still held in U.S. military custody, he said.
"We want a country that unites us, not one that tears us apart," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a campaign stop for political allies in southern Iraq. "Any gap in Iraq's unity will open the gates of hell for us all."
Although the election does not directly threaten al- Maliki, a U.S. ally, the results could put serious strains on his Shiite-led government.
In the Shiite south - Iraq's political center after the fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni- dominated regime - the biggest political party is hoping to increase its clout at the expense of al-Maliki's backers.
A strong election showing by the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council could be used as a springboard to battle al-Maliki's bloc for leadership later this year.
The Iraqi Council, which maintains ties with both Iran and the United States, hopes to build a self-rule Shiite region modeled on the Kurdish autonomy in the north. Al-Maliki and his Washington allies strongly oppose such a move, fearing that it would further fragment Iraq and open the door for greater Iranian influence.
Sunni groups also are jockeying with long-term goals in mind.
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