Nazdar Barwari was born in Iraq but grew up in Iran because her Kurdish family fled persecution from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.
Thursday, the Fargo woman voted in her first Iraqi election - in Skokie, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, one of seven voting centers in the United States for Iraqi expatriates or descendants.
"It was good," she said after casting her ballot. "Something we all have been waiting for for many years."
Barwari and her husband Yassin were among 41 Kurdish immigrants from Fargo-Moorhead who drove almost 12 hours to take part in the first democratic election for a permanent Iraqi government since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
"Now we are voting and Saddam Hussein and his puppet regime are gone," Yassin Barwari said. "This is significant for development of a democratic system."
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The group, traveling in a chartered bus and a van, were weary from the long drive, which began Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., but also jubilant. The voters still had purple fingers, dyed by election officials as proof they'd voted.
To vote, people had to present identification documents proving they were Iraqi citizens or were eligible for citizenship - at least 18 years of age, with a father who is an Iraqi citizen.
Security was tight, but the Fargo-Moorhead contingent only had to wait 20 minutes before voting, Yassin Barwari said. The only sore point was the group was barred from taking a Kurdistani flag into the polling place.
"I don't see any good reason," he said.
Hussein Weled and his son Ari, both of West Fargo, flew to San Diego to vote in another polling center in a suburb there.
Their flights were delayed in Minneapolis because of bad weather. Immediately after landing Thursday afternoon, they drove to cast their votes.
"We made it, thank God," Hussein Weled said.
"It was a duty on my shoulder to do it," he added. "We vote for the martyrs of Kurdistan and for Kurds."
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Weled joined the Kurdish revolution in 1974 and 1975 before immigrating to the United States. He lived for a year in San Diego before moving to Fargo-Moorhead.
San Diego has a large Kurdish population, which Weled estimated at 4,000 to 7,000, many of whom voted.
"I think we came out strong," he said.
The Barwaris and the Weleds hope a strong showing for their favored coalition, the Kurdistani Gathering, will help bring about a federation with a strong and secure Kurdish province.
"It's a significant moment," Yassin Barwari said. "A historic moment."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522
