DETROIT — Iraqi Americans in southeast Michigan, and states across the country are gearing up to vote in Iraq’s 2014 Parliamentary Elections this month. 

Twenty-year-old Mohamed Al-Yaqubi, a Garden City resident who immigrated to the United States from Iraq in 2010 is very passionate about the upcoming Iraqi elections, and looking for ways to spread awareness on the importance of voting to members of his community. 

“I believe that Iraq went through a devastating period over the last few decades under Saddam Hussein’s regime, and then again after the invasion. It is not pleasing to see my country being torn away with sectarianism, and bloodshed. Iraq has the resources it needs to be turned into an oasis in the Middle East. I believe it is a moral obligation and command to do something about it. Voting is an opportunity to prove our love to our country,” Al-Yaqubi said. 

The elections take place April 30 in Iraq, and will decide the 328 members of the Council of Representatives who will in turn elect the Iraqi President and Prime Minister. 

In Michigan, Iraqis will cast their votes Sunday, April 27 and Monday, April 28 at two different polling stations. 

The names and addresses of the locations are the Eastern Club, 3350 Wyoming Street Dearborn, Michigan 48120 and Royalty House of Warren, 8201 E. 13 Mile Road Warren, Michigan 48093. The polls will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days.  

You must be at least 18 years old to vote in the elections, and can only vote for members of parliament who represent the province you or your family are from. 

Iraqis in the United States are not required to register to vote in the Parliamentary Elections. To participate all they need to do is provide the required two sets of proper identification. 

Voters must provide both Iraqi and U.S. identification. Expired Iraqi and U.S. identification documents will not be accepted. 

Providing Iraqi identification is necessary to show you are a native of the country. Acceptable Iraqi identification includes an Iraqi driver’s license, Iraqi passport with a photo or an Iraqi birth certificate, among other forms to prove you are from the country. 

U.S. identification documents range from an American driver’s license, UNHCR refugee card, Green Card or U.S. passport. 

If you are an Iraqi American who was born in the United States, you can still vote in the country’s 2014 Parliamentary Elections, by simply providing proof that either your mother or father are Iraqi natives. 

You can do this by bringing any of the required forms of Iraqi identification listed above that belong to one of your parents. You will also have to provide a form of American identification. 

Al Manhal Al Safi, the Consul General of the Republic of Iraq in Detroit is encouraging all Iraqi Americans to participate in the elections. 

“This is their right, and this right did not come easy. It came with a lot of sacrifice and  suffering. Iraq will always be their home, even if they don’t live there. This is their opportunity to participate in helping build its future,” Al Safi said. 

Al Safi says the elections help bond Iraqis across the globe. 

He assists Iraqi Americans with various consular services in 14 states that fall under his jurisdiction. Michigan has the highest concentration of Iraqis among all the states. 

Polling stations will also be available in other states with large concentrations of Iraqi Americans.  

Iraqi expatriates in countries around the globe will take part in the elections as well. 

“All elections are important, and really every vote counts,” Al Safi said. 

 Al-Yaqubi says over the years there has been a great deal of sectarianism and corruption within Iraqi’s government, and that voting is an opportunity to remove members of Iraqi’s parliament from office that contribute to these issues. 

“There are a small minority of candidates running in the elections who advocate for a civil society and against sectarianism. We can vote for those who advocate against sectarianism and those who advocate against fraud, or for those who have a clear vision of a civil society,”  Al-Yaqubi said.   

The largest parties on the approved list include the Prime Minister’s State of Law Coalition, the Sadrist Movement (Ahrar), the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Iraqi National Accord. Significant new parties include the former militant group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and the White Iraqiya Bloc, which split from the Iraqi National Accord.

Al-Yaqubi says the excitement among young people living in Iraq over the elections is similar to the passion youth in the United States expressed in the 2008 presidential election when Barack Obama was first running for office. 

Al Safi says the low voter turnout among Iraqi Americans in the last election was very disappointing. He says in Michigan roughly 5,000 people voted, and close to 27,000 Iraqis voted nationwide. 

“This is sad. A lot of people are able to vote. We are calling people to get their families and friends to participate,” he said.