Iraqis cast their votes amid insurgent violence

A man on a bicycle covered with flags displays his inked finger after casting his vote in Najaf
Photograph: Alaa al-Marjani/AP

Rachida Dati, the French MEP and former justice minister, tours polling sites
Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Baghdad's Karada district
Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

A woman casts her vote in Ramadi
Photograph: Khalid Mohammed/AP

A woman displays her inked finger after casting her vote in Najaf
Photograph: Alaa al-Marjani/AP

An Iraqi soldier searches a woman's purse at the entrance to a polling centre in central Baghdad
Photograph: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

A soldier searches a voter and his sons at a polling station in Bagdhad's Karrada neighbourhood
Photograph: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images

An election worker checks a man's identification at a polling site in Sulaimaniyah
Photograph: Yahya Ahmed/AP

Iraqi security forces patrol the streets as voters walk to polling stations in Ramadi
Photograph: Khalid Mohammed/AP

Men show their ink-stained fingers after casting their votes at a polling station in Falluja
Photograph: Azhar Shallal/AFP/Getty Images

Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, casts his vote at a polling station inside Baghdad's Green Zone
Photograph: Reuters

Iraq's vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, casts his vote in the Green Zone
Photograph: Ali Abbas/AP

People gather at the scene of an explosion at Kre'at in Baghdad
Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

Women weep at the scene of the Kre'at explosion
Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA