The London Telegraph reports in its morning edition that the estimated turnout in the Iraqi election has settled to 60% as more data has come in from the polling. The number is still spectacular, considering that it equals our best election turnout over the past 40 years while under the threat of murder and terror:

On foot, on crutches and in wheelchairs Iraqis defied the death threats of extremists and voted in their millions yesterday in their country's first free election in half a century.

After decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein, three major wars and almost two years of occupation, chaos and insurgency, the people turned their election day into a festival of democracy.

Election officials estimated that about 60 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots despite a wave of suicide bombings, mortar and gun attacks.

The turnout was highest in Shia and Kurdish regions, but even towns in the "Sunni Triangle", where insurgency has been at its most intense, reported enthusiastic voting.

For those of us who have followed the story closely all day, the Telegraph report contains little else we haven't already heard. However, it is the first of the dailies to file their Monday reports on the election. It will be interesting to see how each newspaper decides to approach the historic elections ...

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» Iraq's Election Success from Secure Liberty
I didn't have the opportunity to post yesterday, but I observed the astounding success of the election in Iraq on the news. Turnout seems to have settled in at 60%, which is remarkable considering the danger so many faced in order to exercise their ri... [Read More]

Tracked on January 31, 2005 7:59 AM