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Iraqis vote despite terrorist threats
By Derek Sullivan
Published:
Monday, January 31, 2005
On Nov. 2, 2004, I got up at 8:30 a.m. and went to vote at Holy Spirit Church. With only a handful of people in line, I hastily gave my name, chose my favorite candidates and picked up a red "I voted" sticker.
The whole process took maybe five minutes. My only worry was whether or not people would make fun of me for wearing an "I voted" sticker on my shirt.
Well, that and if the United States was going to go downhill.
Later that night, I found out that roughly half of all Americans did not vote. While voting numbers among young people went up, the overall numbers were disappointing, when compared to the number of register voters in the 18-24 age group. College-age students accounted for only 10 percent of the vote.
I can think of several reasons why Americans don't vote.
Perhaps they felt dismayed by both candidates or did not know where or how to vote. Or, maybe they felt their vote would not make a difference.
To be honest, sometimes I also feel like my vote doesn't matter. After all, in 2000, my guy (Al Gore) received the most votes, but lost (Electoral College) the election. Then last fall, my guy lost again.
If I had not voted, the country would be on the same path with the same leaders. So why did I waste the time? For the red sticker?
This morning, I woke up and turned on my favorite Sunday morning news shows and was shocked to see that more then 60 percent of Iraqi citizens voted in the their first true election in over 50 years. Given all the violence in the previous few weeks and days, I thought surely no more than 20 percent (or so) of Iraqis would vote.
There was no good reason for any Iraqi citizen to go to the polls, but they did it in numbers that dwarf the United States' voting numbers. Iraqi men and women had no idea who the candidates were, as the leaders had a real fear of being assassinated and did not campaign. Four candidates were murdered before the election.
Iraq was not even voting for a president, but for a general assembly. That body will draft the new constitution and will then solely choose the president. I know that does not sound like true democracy, but bear with me.
By going to the polls, Iraqi citizens were putting their lives in real danger. For months, insurgents (a fancy word for the enemy) said they would "fill the streets with blood on election day."
It was a legitimate fear. Hundreds of Iraqis have died in the past few months due to suicide bombs, land mines, executions and random gunfire. In fact, at least 44 citizens died while trying to vote.
While many Americans would rather work, play, or sleep on Election Day, citizens in Iraq walked through war-torn streets to a polling location, gave their name and chose their candidates. I'm not sure if they even got a red sticker that said, "I voted."
But they got something much less tangible, but more important.
They became part of something bigger than themselves as they began trying to rebuild a nation they love.
Because of their special circumstances in the world today, they don't take voting for granted. To them, voting is not a reason to complain. Voting is not a chore or even a privilege. For a country that was a dictatorship and now is a haven for terrorists, voting is a step toward a better life.
Violence will continue in the region, and the future for Iraq is rather bleak. But for many citizens, they look at my country with not hatred, but jealousy. They desperately want the government that we rarely participate in or give a moment's thought to. Hopefully, we don't need to become a repressed people to get us to the ballot box.
Soon, Iraqis will understand the feelings of many Americans following various elections, as their candidates are defeated. But one thing is for certain: violence and terror lost and democracy won. The people of Iraq looked death in the eye and said freedom is worth dying for.
