BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis anxiously await the results of a historic election that drew voters out in greater-than-expected numbers, defying insurgents who killed 35 people in a failed campaign to torpedo the poll.

As praise poured in from around the world, election workers raced to count ballots by hand -- in some cases by candlelight because of widespread power outages -- to decide the outcome of Iraq's first multi-party vote in nearly half a century.

Up to 8 million Iraqis, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots across the country on Sunday as guerrilla attacks proved less ferocious than anticipated in the face of a massive security crackdown.

But in parts of the Sunni Arab heartland, where the insurgency has been bloodiest and several parties called for a boycott, polling stations were empty.

President Bush hailed the election as a "resounding success." He had looked to the vote as a turning point in the troubled 22-month U.S. military presence in Iraq, hoping it would unite Iraqis and quell a raging insurgency.

But the election, all but certain to bring Iraq's long- oppressed Shi'ite majority to power, risks alienating Iraq's once-privileged Sunni Muslim minority and fomenting sectarian strife, further delaying any U.S. withdrawal.

Officials expect preliminary poll results in six to seven days and final results in about 10 days…

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