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 Photograph: Alaa al-Marjani/guardian.co.uk Rachida Dati, the French MEP and former justice minister, tours polling sites Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP Photograph: Hadi Mizban/guardian.co.uk A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Baghdad's Karada district Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA Photograph: Ali Haider/guardian.co.uk A woman casts her vote in Ramadi Photograph: Khalid Mohammed/AP Photograph: Khalid Mohammed/guardian.co.uk A woman displays her inked finger after casting her vote in Najaf Photograph: Alaa al-Marjani/AP Photograph: Alaa al-Marjani/guardian.co.uk An Iraqi soldier searches a woman's purse at the entrance to a polling centre in central Baghdad Photograph: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Joseph Eid/guardian.co.uk A soldier searches a voter and his sons at a polling station in Bagdhad's Karrada neighbourhood Photograph: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Sabah Arar/guardian.co.uk An election worker checks a man's identification at a polling site in Sulaimaniyah Photograph: Yahya Ahmed/AP Photograph: Yahya Ahmed/guardian.co.uk Iraqi security forces patrol the streets as voters walk to polling stations in Ramadi Photograph: Khalid Mohammed/AP Photograph: Khalid Mohammed/guardian.co.uk Men show their ink-stained fingers after casting their votes at a polling station in Falluja Photograph: Azhar Shallal/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Azhar Shallal/guardian.co.uk Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, casts his vote at a polling station inside Baghdad's Green Zone Photograph: Reuters Photograph: guardian.co.uk Iraq's vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, casts his vote in the Green Zone Photograph: Ali Abbas/AP Photograph: Ali Abbas/guardian.co.uk People gather at the scene of an explosion at Kre'at in Baghdad Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA Photograph: Ali Haider/guardian.co.uk Women weep at the scene of the Kre'at explosion Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA Photograph: Ali Haider/guardian.co.uk