Turnout in Sunday's parliamentary elections in Iraq was 62.4 percent say election officials. The figure is lower than 2005, when 76 percent voted.

Turnout was much higher in the three autonomous Kurdish provinces in the north of the country and in the majority Sunni provinces as well. Sunnis boycotted the 2005 elections.
 

Provisional results are expected on Tuesday but the final results are not expected for several weeks. It is already clear that the coalition negotiations will be extremely difficult. Exit polls show that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's governing alliance is leading in several provinces but many other parties have made significant gains.