An Iraqi woman casts her vote at a polling station during provincial elections in Baghdad on Saturday. Iraqis voted in the country’s first polls since US troops departed, a key test of the country’s stability in the face of a spike in attacks that has claimed more than 100 lives. – AFP

BAGHDAD – A dozen small bombs exploded and mortar rounds landed near polling centers in Iraq on Saturday, wounding at least four people during voting in the country’s first provincial elections since the departure of US troops.



Two mortar rounds injured three voters and a policeman at a school used as a voting center in Latifiya, south of Baghdad, soon after the start of the election that will measure parties’ political strength before parliamentary elections in 2014.



Bombs exploded in the northern towns of Tuz Khurmato, Tikrit and Samarra and six mortar rounds also landed in a town near the southern city of Hilla, without causing any injuries, police said.



Security was tight across Iraq with more than 8,000 hopefuls running for nearly 450 seats on provincial councils which select local governors. More than a dozen candidates, mostly Sunnis, were killed during campaigning.

Turnout at polling stations in Baghdad, and cities such as Basra, Tikrit and Baquba appeared light, according to Reuters reporters. In Baghdad, mostly empty after the government imposed a vehicle curfew, young men played football along a main road on the banks of the River Tigris.



Many voters appeared caught between apathy and resignation about how much the local ballot would change their lives.



“People are not patient, they were not ready for how quickly we came to democracy. They thought everything would change in one election. We still need time, maybe we need three or four more elections,” said Ahmed Abdel Hameed, voting in Baghdad.



“Overall the elections are likely to see Iraq stumble further along the trajectory on which is has already been headed for some time: to stratified, sectarian politics,” Eurasia Group analyst Crispin Hawes wrote in a report.



Election authorities say suspended voting in Anbar and Nineweh provinces may go ahead in a month. – Reuters