Best story on Iraqi elections I’ve seen so far.
Since U.S. polling places in five states were announced this month, these fervent fans of democracy have become Seattle’s hometown heroes. More than 100 already have driven to Irvine once to register for Iraq’s out-of-country voting. By the time they return to Seattle, they will have logged nearly 4,800 miles in the pursuit of democracy.
The co-founder of Seattle’s Iraqi Community Center, Qatrani spent days trying to persuade election authorities to set up a polling place closer to the Emerald City. He’d raise the money to defray the costs, he promised. He’d find volunteers to staff the effort. He’d even find a proper venue.
When that didn’t work, he rented minivans, lots of minivans. The very minivans that now stand ready, draped in Iraqi and American flags, decorated with campaign posters, stuffed with food and bursting with hope.
But before the departure, the hundred or more travelers first head into their white, clapboard mosque, a tract house turned place of worship. The voting is for their country; this time is for their souls.
Muslims pray five times daily, beginning with Fajr, the dawn prayer, followed by Zuhr, the afternoon prayer, Asr in the late afternoon, Maghrib at sunset and Isha, when the sky is completely dark.
“The prayer keeps you aware all the time,” says one of the men. “You cannot pray and do bad things.”
