Out-of-country voting for Iraq began today. This exercise will give the estimated 2,000,000 Iraqis living outside Iraq the opportunity to cast a ballot for Council of Representatives (CoR) at nearly 1000 out-of-country polling stations in 16 countries.

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the Ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S Samir Sumaida'ie, and IFES President/CEO Bill Sweeney made some remarks at the polling station for Washington, D.C.

Ambassador Sumaida'ie commended the courage of the Iraqi people who are voting in spite of danger and threats. He also expressed his gratitude to the United States for the opportunity Iraqis have to choose their leaders, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) for their work on these elections and IFES for their assistance in the out-of-country voting exercise.

Senator Lugar affirmed that these elections are essential to the long term political stability and economic progress in Iraq. He acknowledged the hardships the Iraqi people have endured and said the United States hopes to see Iraq standing on its own two feet.

Bill Sweeney explained that at the request of the IHEC, IFES is assisting the IHEC with the out-of-country voting, and that IFES has experienced a great working partnership with them. He also noted that out-of-country voting is especially important for societies that have seen a large displacement of their population.

Both Senator Lugar and Mr. Sweeney acted as official observers at the polling station.

The polls for Iraq's 2010 parliamentary elections will be open from March 5-7 in countries around the world. The countries in which OCV is available this year are Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the U.S. In the United States, polling stations have been established in the 8 cities with the largest concentrations of Iraqi immigrants: Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; San Francisco and San Diego, California; and Washington, DC. The polls will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. all three days.

For more information, please see our press release and briefing paper:

Polls to Vote in Iraqi Parliamentary Election Open in the United States and the World