Iraqi officials put voter turnout at 62%

BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials announced Monday that 62 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Sunday's parliamentary elections, a total slightly lower than in the 2005 national elections but higher than in last year's provincial elections.

The Iraqi prime minister's coalition and its main secular rival both claimed to be ahead in the vote count Monday, a day after historic parliamentary elections that the top U.S. commander said would let all but 50,000 American troops come home by the end of summer.

Initial results for some provinces, as well as for Baghdad — an area essential to determining any winner — were to be announced Tuesday.

There was stronger-than-expected turnout in predominantly Sunni provinces, suggesting that a minority group that lost power with the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and tried to regain it with a years-long insurgency now sees the democratic process as a potential way to regain influence as the United States draws down its military presence.

That represents a marked change in attitude from 2005, when Sunni parties boycotted the vote as a protest of the U.S. occupation. Salahuddin province, a mostly Sunni province, had a turnout of 73 percent. In Anbar province, once a bastion of the Sunni insurgency, 61 percent of voters went to the polls.

The Kurdish north, predictably, had the highest turnout. More than 75 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the autonomous region, which includes three provinces.

Turnout in Baghdad, the capital, was among the lowest nationwide, at 53 percent, at least partly because of attacks Sunday morning that left 38 people dead.

Analysts said it was unlikely that any single political coalition would gain a decisive victory.

The months to come are expected to be politically precarious, as rivals forge new alliances and battle for seats in the next government. The process could further polarize sectarian and ethnic divides while Iraq's first sovereign government forms and the United States reduces its troop level.

On Monday, Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, called the elections a milestone that would allow the United States to draw down troops.

"Unless there's a catastrophic event, we don't see that changing," Odierno said. "We believe we're right on track for that."

Most of the roughly 96,000 troops in Iraq will remain here through May, when the military will begin scaling down to 50,000 noncombat troops by the Obama administration's self-imposed deadline at the start of September, Odierno said.

The timetable calls for all troops to be out by the end of 2011.

With ballots still being counted, officials from both the State of Law coalition led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the rival Iraqiya claimed to be leading. Iraqiya is a secular alliance led by Shiite former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, but it also contains many Sunnis.

Abbas al-Bayati from al-Maliki's coalition said early information from the coalition's representatives showed the group did well in Baghdad and in the Shiite south, which includes Iraq's second-largest city, Basra.

But Iraqiya said the group had done well in areas such as Anbar, Diyala and Ninewah, which is home to Iraq's third-largest city. Iraqiya appeared to cash in on the votes of Sunnis who see Allawi as a Shiite who can represent their interests but is not beholden to Iran.

An official from a competing Shiite party opposing al-Maliki said the State of Law coalition appeared to be in the lead.

A win for al-Maliki or secular rival Iraqiya could indicate Iraqis' frustration with religious parties who have been the dominant political force since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Religious parties have angered many voters in the Shiite south for their perceived inability to improve government services such as electricity, and many Iraqis are generally weary of sectarian tension.

Key to any political coalition will be Kurdish support, said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group. Because the Kurds are generally unified and will probably have a significant number of seats, they can help determine who runs the country when they throw their weight behind a candidate.