Mr Allawi did even better as an individual, polling at 35% against 11% for his closest competitor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari of the Dawa Party, probably the Alliance's strongest component.

ECONOMIST: Iraq: It'll soon be time, at last, to vote | The

But in America even national elections remain local affairs, with polling places and procedures determined by individual counties.

ECONOMIST: Washington state politics

More than 100, 000 members weighed in on 70 polling questions, offering more than two million individual responses.

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In the polling booth, voters must choose a party rather than an individual.

ECONOMIST: Suck it and see