Here are some of the key points about the elections scheduled for Sunday in Iraq.

QUESTION: Just what will the voters be deciding?ANSWER: At stake are all 275 seats in the National Assembly, Iraq’s parliament. Voters will also elect representatives to all 18 provincial assemblies, the equivalent of our state legislatures.

QUESTION: Once the National Assembly is elected, what does it do?ANSWER: It will pick a president and two vice presidents. Together with the National Assembly, those officers will appoint a prime minister.More important, the National Assembly will draft a constitution for Iraq. If all goes well, that constitution will go to a nationwide vote later this year. Presumably, the new constitution will spell out how Iraq’s government will work, and how its elected members will be chosen.

QUESTION: How will Iraqis choose the National Assembly members?ANSWER: Unlike voters the United States, who elect representatives from set geographic areas, Iraqis will select from among 111 “lists,” or slates of candidates who can be from anywhere in the country. A slate that gets, say, 40 percent of the total vote will get 40 percent of the power — 110 seats in the National Assembly. A slate that gets 20 percent of the vote will get 20 percent of the seats. And because a quarter of the seats have been set aside for women, each slate must be salted heavily with the names of women.

QUESTION: So what’s the problem with the nationwide vote?ANSWER: If certain areas turn out a heavy vote, they can wield more than their share of power. And that’s all but sure to happen on Jan. 30. Insurgent violence is expected to dry up voter turnout in four of the 18 provinces — Anwar, Baghdad, Ninevah and Salahadin.And because those provinces are home to most of Iraq’s Sunni Muslims, the Sunnis may be all but shut out of the National Assembly.

QUESTION: Why don’t the Sunnis vote anyway and get their proportional share of power?ANSWER: Mainly because the Sunni areas generate most of the violence in Iraq. Many Sunnis are afraid to venture out to the polls. Others think the Shiites (and the Americans) have stacked the system against them. At first, the Sunnis put up a slate of candidates. But on Dec. 27, they quit the race, saying that violence in their areas would hold down their vote — and their power.

QUESTION: If the Sunni Muslims lose, who wins?ANSWER: Iraq’s Shiite Muslims and its Kurds. (The Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but they are not ethnic Arabs.)

QUESTION: What’s the difference between the Sunnis and the Shiites? Aren’t both groups Muslims?A. Yes, both are Muslims. But, just as both Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists are Christians, they tend to drive in different theological lanes.The Sunnis and Shiites split in the seventh century with a quarrel over who would succeed the Prophet Muhammad. The Shiites more or less lost. Ever since, they’ve been in second place — poorer, and less politically powerful than the Sunnis.Today, Shiites make up only 15 percent of the world’s Muslims. In the modern era, Shiites have held political power only in Iran. But Shiites make up 60 percent of Iraq’s 24 million people.