Abbass Alkhafaji doesn't care who wins in the Iraqi election this weekend.

"I will be happy no matter who is elected, so long as they are elected by the Iraqi people," Alkhafaji said.

It is a sentiment shared by many out-of-country Iraqis who, thanks to new rules, will be allowed to vote in the Iraqi election this weekend.

Out-of-country voting was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Iraqi citizens still living within that country voted Sunday.

Alkhafaji, a professor of management/marketing at Slippery Rock University who now lives in New Castle, was born in Baghdad. He stayed there until 1975, when he fled the country at age 26 to escape the cruelty of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Alkhafaji later became a U.S. citizen.

BOTH ALKHAFAJI AND his wife registered to vote last weekend in Detroit. They had to fight a nasty snowstorm to get there, but Alkhafaji said it was worth it.There were five cities in the United States where Iraqis could register last weekend. They were Washington, D.C., Detroit, Nashville, Chicago and Los Angeles. Those are the same five locations where voting is taking place this weekend.Another native of Iraq, Azad Ali, also voted this weekend.Ali, a Butler resident and a professor at Butler County Community College, was born in the Kurdish area of Kirkuk, Iraq - an area long suppressed under the rule of Saddam.Ali and his wife drove to Washington, D.C., last weekend to register to vote and returned to the city to cast their ballots this weekend."Most of the people I've seen registering are Kurds, and I'm very happy about it," Ali said.The Kurds were among the groups most targeted by Saddam's regime, and were the victims of chemical weapons testing by Saddam shortly before the first Gulf War.Ali moved here from Kurdistan in Northern Iraq in 1982 and became a U.S. citizen in 1991. He has worked in BC3's business department since 1996.

Both Alkhafaji and Ali had already decided which of the more than 200 groups of candidates they were voting for."I really like (Iyad) Allawi and I plan to vote for him, but my wife doesn't think he's done such a good job," Alkhafaji said. "But I think given the situation, he's done a good job, and he will have that experience to help guide him if he is elected."Allawi is the man President Bush appointed to head the interim Iraqi government and has been head of the temporary government for nearly two years.Ali said he plans to vote for the Kurdish Union - number 130 on the ballot - which also includes representation from Shiite and Sunni Arabs, as well as Kurds."I think it's a well-balanced party," Ali said.Both men agreed the number of candidates on the ballot is a little much, but said it is the first time the Iraqi people have had freedom over who they could elect so it isn't surprising there are so many candidates."Under Saddam, there was only one party," Alkhafaji said. "So now, people are going to extremes."Out of this election, Iraq will form a parliament that will set about drafting the country's new constitution, Ali said. The parliament's job will be similar to what was done in Afghanistan two years ago.According to the Associated Press, about 11 percent, or 25,946 people, of 240,000 eligible Iraqi expatriate voters are registered in the United States to vote in Iraq.

<B>WHILE BOTH ALI AND</B> Alkhafaji are thrilled to do their part by voting, both said they recognize it will be more significant for their family members still living in the war-torn country."They want it, they are very excited about it," Ali said. "But they are worried about security."Ali has family in Baghdad, as well as further north in Kurdistan, where it is more stable.One of Ali's brothers, a doctor in Baghdad, already has fled the country to Jordan because he and his family were the victims of insurgents. The family was taken at gunpoint by masked men who demanded money and tried to kidnap Ali's nephew, Ali said."They ended up taking all the money and possessions they could find in the house, and they seemed happy with that, so they let them go," Ali said.But the event shook his brother enough that he decided it was best to flee the country until it became a little safer.Alkhafaji said his family realizes voting could be life threatening, but they are willing to take that chance."They've told me they will all go out to vote and hope they make it back alive," Alkhafaji said. "But they have said they will vote regardless."The key to getting more Iraqis to vote within that country is providing adequate security and making sure the elections are fair, both men said."This is a critical day. It is the beginning of restoring Iraqi sovereignty," Alkhafaji said. "More people will come if they feel secure."Ali and Alkhafaji said they don't expect many interruptions when they vote.Ali said security at the Washington, D.C., voting place was tight and it made him feel secure.Alkhafaji said the same of the security in Detroit, but said Iraqis voting in this country shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security."There are some people around who still support the old regime, so we shouldn't fool ourselves," he said.<B>BOTH MEN ARE</B> optimistic there will not be anything as drastic as a civil war following the election."I'm quite optimistic about this, but it'll take a long time for things to return to normal," Ali said. "There's always a concern for (civil war), but I hope that threat will pass quickly."Alkhafaji said insurgents would continue their assault on the country as long as employment rates are so low and Americans occupy the country and take what few jobs there are tied to the rebuilding of the country."The insurgents can recruit people easily by offering to pay them when they don't have any other employment," Alkhafaji said. "We did not create a good environment for people."Alkhafaji said by building a strong government, many of the insurgency problems could be eliminated."We need a strong government to establish and enforce tough rules," he said. "Building a democracy is not an easy job. We have made many mistakes and now is the time to correct them."