By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Iraqis in St. Louis who want to vote in their homeland's elections will have to make two trips to either Chicago or Nashville.
Today (Monday) is the first day they can register to vote, but they can only do so in five U.S. cities (Chicago, Nashville, Washington DC, Detroit, and Los Angeles)
Jeremy Copeland, with the Iraq Out-of-Country Voting Program, says Iraqis have to make one trip to register to vote, and then another in a couple weeks to actually cast ballots.
"e're very understanding of the trouble that some people will have to face to travel to another city to vote, but we hope as many people will take advantage of this opportunity and do that."
Copeland says organizers didn't have enough time to set up a program that guarantees a vote for every Iraqi in the U.S.
But he adds even a few Iraqis voting would be better than none.
An estimated 400 Kurds from northern Iraq currently live in St. Louis.
To learn more about the Iraqi vote in the U.S., click here.