BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Voting ended Saturday evening for Iraqi provincial elections and the mood was festive in some places, unlike the violence, intimidation and apathy that marked the balloting in 2005.
Iraqi election officials pour out ballots for counting at a polling center in Baghdad’s Sadr City district.
"Politics has broken out in Iraq. … It’s truly a proud moment," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told CNN. "The distance that we have come is truly inspiring."
Preliminary results were expected within a week, members of the Electoral Commission said at a news conference Saturday night.
Only two instances of violence were reported.
CNN’s Arwa Damon, who toured polling stations with U.N. observers, said she noticed an increased sense of awareness and optimism among voters, who felt their participation would have an impact on their lives and country.
Watch Iraqis head to polls »
Political analysts said this election could correct some of the political imbalances that resulted from the 2005 election. Saturday’s voting also was seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
"We are trying to build a new system of government in the heart of the Islamic Middle East," Saleh said.
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The last provincial elections were in January 2005, after the ousting of Saddam Hussein, and most Sunni Arabs did not vote.
"This time, happening four years after the first elections, means that this process is on track to building a functioning democracy," Saleh said. "I think the election results will point to the real political map of Iraq.
"The overwhelming majority of the people of Iraq are having a stake in this process, are buying into this democratic process."
He added that politics "is no longer defined by violence," and is now transcending "sectarian and ethnic dimensions."
Voting was extended one hour, partly because a curfew had been lifted, allowing more Iraqis to go to the polls, Judge Qassim al-Aboudi, member of the Electoral Commission, told C
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