BAGHDAD — Bombs and mortar shells pounded Baghdad on Sunday morning, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens more as Iraqis, desperate for a brighter future, sought to cast their ballots in a crucial national election.
The deadly blasts, which echoed across the capital before 7 a.m. and lasted until close to noon, threw a pall over the vote for the second four-year government since Saddam Hussein was toppled in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
In contrast to national elections in 2005, when U.S. military vehicles patrolled Baghdad, only Iraqi army and police guarded the city Sunday. They were unable to prevent insurgents from launching their fusillades, which appeared to unnerve some voters and dissuade many from heading to the polls in the morning, said Hamdiya Husseini, a spokesperson for Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission.
Later in the day, voter turnout rose markedly, Husseini said.
Still, the subdued scene at the polls stood in sharp contrast to 2005 when the capital’s voting centers were clogged with people. No turnout figures were expected before today, and electoral commission members cautioned it would take time to announce official results.
The election has been considered a crucial milestone for U.S. military plans to withdraw all its combat troops — 50,000 of them — from Iraq by the end of August. The day’s mix of death and quiet heroism, as Iraqis headed to the polls, said much about the country’s uncertain future as the Americans prepare to leave.
About 6,200 candidates were competing for 325 parliament seats, but initial results are not expected for several days.
What seemed clear among ordinary Iraqis was impatience with the status quo and a wish to improve their lot by choosing a government that would not be marred by the types of deadlocks, corruption and paralysis of its predecessor.
This appeared to motivate many to vote despite the dangers. None interviewed, whether Sunni or Shiite, seemed to have a ready answer about what would happen if their demand for an effective government was not met.
Abu Mustapha, 35, had been awoken by the sound of an explosion knocking down a building in the Ur neighborhood. He soon learned a local vegetable seller, named Sadiq, and his wife and children were among those buried under the jagged heaps of rubble. Despite the attack, he headed out to cast his ballot.
He came back home, his finger dipped in dark ink, as women in veils sobbed and, in the back of an ambulance, the foot of a dead child peeked out.
“Let them do attacks. For seven years, we suffered death,” said Mustapha, who voted for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “I am optimistic. The government will be formed and control the situation.”
A few blocks away in Ur, another explosion tore down a second apartment building. Police put the death toll from the two attacks at 25. At the second location, a woman in a dark black robe wailed for her mother, who died in the rubble.
“My mother! My mother! This is what we get from this government,” she screamed, dropping to the grassy divider in the middle of the street.
By 11 a.m., on the edge of the Adhamiya district, a steady flow of voters began arriving at the polls. Many vowed to vote for the former prime minister Ayad Allawi, who headed a list of Sunni and Shiite secular candidates.
“For four years, we have seen nothing. There is progress, but not what we want,” said a woman named Umm Mustapha, who, like other voters, ventured out despite the bomb-backed threats of insurgents.
