By Emil Guillermo  
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, January 30, 2005

<http://www.recordnet.com/articlelink/013005/news/articles/image-gn-1.jpg> IRVINE -- The nearly 800-mile round-trip from Stockton to the only Iraqi polling place west of the Mississippi was not just a matter of history but filial duty for Sargon Yousip.

In Iraq's tribal politics, a father's birth on Iraqi soil determines voter eligibility. And his ethnicity plays a role in party affiliation. So because his father, Joseph Yousip was born in Iraq, there was no question whether the 26-year-old Christian Assyrian American and University of the Pacific graduate student had the right to participate in this weekend's Iraqi election.

Sargon Yousip had voted for President Bush in November. On Saturday, he voted for a free Iraqi people.

Yousip joined more than 26,000 registered voters at polling places across five U.S. cities, including Chicago, Washington and Detroit. He was one of an estimated 240,000 in America, mostly exiled and expatriated here who were eligible to vote in the first independent Iraqi election in more than 50 years.

His vote had an even greater meaning for his ethnic forebears, the Christian Assyrians, a historically shunned and silenced minority in a politics dominated by Shiite Muslims, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

"This is a life or death for Assyrians," said Yousip, who wore a cross around his neck and a Sacramento Kings hat on his head.

"If we don't get recognized now, it's like the last chapter for our people."

That urgency made the journey more than a weekend road trip, and more like a "Freedom Ride."

Nearly a dozen vans filled with family and friends -- all Christian Assyrians, mostly from Modesto and Turlock -- followed Sargon Yousip to what was formerly known as the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to cast their votes.

For every 30,000 votes won, a party will earn a seat in the transitional parliament that will write Iraq's new constitution.

Many voters were in Irvine as early as 7 a.m. Saturday, a day when most could afford to make the long treks to the only polling place in the western United States. Voting continues until 5 p.m. today.

Yousip still wonders why a polling site was set up in Nashville where there are an estimated 5,000 Kurds. He believes there was a bias against the Assyrians.

"We have 40,000 Assyrians in Northern California, and the closest polling place is Irvine," he said.

But Salem Al Jawad, the polling center manager, denied such a bias.
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"There was no bias whatsoever," said Al Jawad.

At the El Toro site, sojourners appeared road-weary, some traveling from as far as Seattle and Arizona. But the atmosphere was electric.

The parking lot was like a tailgate party, with some grilling chicken kebobs.

Others broke out into spontaneous song and dance, including Farsat Hassan, 25, of San Diego, and Gulbahar Isa, 28, who draped a Kurdish flag around herself.

And then there was casually dressed Hassain Al-Sadi, 44, an engineer who flew in from Seattle on Saturday morning to vote. His parents were jailed under Saddam Hussein, he said.

"This is the most important day in my life," said Al-Sadi, a Shiite from Baghdad, who believes the election could help Iraqis unite. "Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Jews, we all share one common thing. We all want a free Iraq."

"There are four dead in my family because of Saddam Hussein," said Hasena Kakoo, 50, of Modesto. "My husband was killed by Saddam."

Voters proceeded through two security checkpoints before entering the polling place.

Once inside, Sargon Yousip provided identification showing his father was born in Iraq. After dipping his finger in some blue dye -- a method used to prevent duplicate voting -- a poll worker handed him a ballot.

But there was one problem.

"It was in Arabic, and I only read English and Assyrian," he said.

He knew to mark the logo for 139, the National Rafidain List: 28 candidates representing Assyrian Christians.

He likens them to the United State's Native Americans.

"I'm voting to save my people's culture and our homeland," he said. "People have massacred and killed us because of our Assyrian name, language and faith, which is Christianity."

While the scene was peaceful in Irvine, the fervor of blood politics explains why the tensions are so high abroad. In Iraq, violence and the threat of violence has kept people from the polling booth in cities such as Mosul, the birthplace of Sargon Yousip's father, the place Assyrians still call it Ninevah.

Joseph Yousip, growing up a Christian among Arabs, was forced to flee the country after high school, and came to America in the 1960s. He's now a lab technician at a local winery.

He fell ill when registration took place last week and couldn't make the drive to register, but he was there Saturday to offer moral support to the others.

Now the question is: Will their vote make a difference?

And while Yousip and his family are enthusiastic about voting, they are hesitant about making a return to Iraq for good.

"I don't mind going back to visit," said Joseph Yousip. "But I don't know if I'd want to live there."

Sargon Yousip, a doctoral candidate in pharmacy, said his loyalties are split.

"I wanted to show I support President Bush and the troops," Sargon Yousip said. "I am as American as they come. But being Assyrian is important too."

As he exited the polling place, he felt both joy and relief.

"This is the first time since 606 B.C. Assyrians have had a voice," he said. "And it feels great."