EVERETT – Fatima al-Taie, 67, leaned against an Iraqi flag, pressing it to the window of a Ford Excursion.
“555, 555,” Al-Taie chanted, referring to the ballot number of the United Iraqi Alliance, the political party she will vote for today at a polling station in San Francisco. Kevin Nortz / The Herald
About two dozen Iraqi refugees squeezed into three rented SUVs on Linden Avenue in north Everett on Wednesday, hoping to travel through the night to San Francisco, the location of the nearest ballot box. Today, they plan to vote for the Iraq of their dreams – a peaceful Iraq, one that soon, they hope, they can return to.
“This is like going to a wedding,” al-Taie said through an interpreter. “This is my first time voting, and that’s how happy I am.”
Citizens of Iraq also go to the polls today in a vote that will determine the makeup of the Iraqi parliament. Most of Everett’s Iraqis planned to support Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the country’s interim prime minister.
Eight polling places exist in the United States, and an estimated 240,000 Iraqi refugees in the country are eligible to vote, according to one estimate.
Many of Everett’s Iraqis traveled to Los Angeles to vote for their country’s interim government in January. The scene at the polling station then was emotional – tears, hugs, dancing, they said. They expect the same today.
The caravan that left Everett on Wednesday was just one of several groups from here that flew or drove to San Francisco, said Haidar al-Tamimi, 27.
The men and women who left with the caravan gathered driver’s licenses and green cards for the trip, but not much else. They plan to cast their ballots, then immediately return home – a round trip of 1,600 miles in little more than 24 hours.
“Just for the vote,” Haidar al-Tamimi said. “All I care about is Iraq.”
The group began gathering at the Grandview Neighborhood Center, a de facto mosque for local Iraqis, about 4 p.m. Some poured out of neighboring apartments, taking final swigs of syrupy tea on the sidewalk before clearing their throats and walking toward the center. Others drove from south Everett.
Men appeared in crisp suits for the occasion. They hugged and kissed one another, throwing their hands in the air and waving an Iraqi flag.
“I believe, I believe,” said Abdul al-Tamimi, 51, a husky man in a checkered flannel shirt. “This government, this man. It’s made progress.”
Al-Tamimi’s brother-in-law, also named Abdul al-Tamimi, 53, said the vote is the first step in restoring Iraq to its ancient prosperity.
“When there is no more terror in Iraq, when we can all shake hands, then things will change,” he said.
As part of the voting process in California, Iraqis will line up together and walk away with inked fingers, proof that they’ve cast a vote, Abdul al-Tamimi, 51, said.
“A lot of these guys I didn’t even know in Iraq,” Haidar al-Tamimi said, waving his hand around the crowded neighborhood center. “But we’re all doing this together.”
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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