Purple fingers have become one of my favorite internet images. You can see some of the latest from the Constitutional vote in Iraq.

I’ve been telling my students, college and otherwise, about this vote this week. Most of them didn’t know it was going on. But I have been praying and hoping that all would go well. For the first time in thousands of years a free and democratic election is taking place in Iraq. It’s amazing.

According to Michael Yon expectations have been high in Iraq. “According to Dr. Ayar, there are 15.5 million eligible voters, and the commission expects about 11 million of them to vote, saying this would be an even better turnout than the January election results. The number seemed optimistic, but Dr. Ayar said that with a high Arab Sunni turnout, it might actually happen.”

The Fox news report showed this seemed reasonable. “In the south, the heartland of Iraq’s Shiites, some Shiite cities reported a higher turnout than the January vote. Top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had urged his followers to turn out and vote yes.”