For Immediate Release
January 31, 2005

Democracy Comes to Iraq
Fact of the Day

On Jan. 30, Iraqis voted for democracy and for their future. Across the globe, over 14 million Iraqis registered to vote. Over 265,000 Iraqi expatriates voted abroad, representing 93.6 percent of those registered to vote. In Iraq, 184,000 local officials ran almost 5,200 polling centers for millions of Iraqis voters, and Iraqi security forces protected the polling centers. Despite the risks, Iraqis have shown their commitment to democracy.

Source: U.S. Department of State and the Iraqi Out-of-Country Voting Program (www.iraqocv.org)