Iraqi Voices: Citizen Perspectives From Inside the Country on Election Day

Determined Iraqis flocked to the polls today to vote in the first nationwide parliamentary election since 2005. Despite pockets of violence, Iraqi citizens from 18 different provinces inside Iraq, as well as 16 other countries around the world, cast their ballots to determine who will fill the Prime Minister's office and the 325 seats in the nation's parliament.

These elections mark an important milestone for Iraq, a country damaged by war, slowly re-building itself as a democracy. We partnered with Al-Jazeera English to collect videos from Iraqi citizens before, during, and after Election Day. Each of these videos features the perspective of a regular Iraqi, whose viewpoints and experiences are rarely shared in the news reports coming out of the country. Through video, we can listen to their voices, see their faces, and gain a better understanding of what it was like inside Iraq on this important day. The footage is still coming in as the votes are counted, but you can go to Al-Jazeera's YouTube Channel to see the playlist of videos uploaded to YouTube so far. We're also showcasing videos on CitizenTube's YouTube channel.

One Iraqi got to the polls at 5 a.m. only to be find that his name was not on the list:

This voter shares who she voted for why she believes that secular candidates will win:

And this woman explains why she will not vote in this year's election:



If you're from Iraq or have thoughts about the Iraq elections you'd like to share, upload your videos to the Al-Jazeera website (http://interactive.aljazeera.net/iraqelections) using YouTube Direct and your video might be shown on television.