"I have worked on many post-conflict out-of-country elections, but this is honestly the first time I have seen this level of emotion and excitement among voters," said Peter Erben, who directed the project for IOM. Most recently he worked on the Afghanistan (news - web sites) election.
Erben said IOM was "delighted" that the three days of polling outside Iraq (news - web sites) went smoothly "and that so many expatriate Iraqis took this historic opportunity to vote."
He noted that Iraqis had turned out to vote in traditional dress and were dancing in the street.
"Many, many people (were) proudly holding up their inked finger as a sign of their freedom to choose their future leaders," Erben said.
The agency marked the voter's index finger with ink meant to avert any repeat voting.