The main Kurdish coalition won 26 of 41 provincial council seats, and a Kurd will almost certainly be installed as governor.

The main Kurdish coalition overwhelmingly dominated the three northern Kurdish provinces, as did the main Shiite coalition in the south.

Also on Sunday, the main Kurdish political coalition said it had nominated Jalal Talabani to again serve as Iraqi president.

In the Iraqi legislative election of January 2005, it decided to run independently from the main Kurdish coalition.

In the Iraqi legislative election of December 2005 they decided to join the Kurdish coalition and were allocated one seat.

"I will vote for 730," Fakhri Muhammad, 32, said as he stood in line outside the village's primary school, referring to the ballot number of the main Kurdish coalition.

Both said they were not taking part in discussions with the ruling Shiite and Kurdish coalition, which continued on Thursday in Kurdistan.

Further delay would be a serious embarrassment for the Shiite and Kurdish coalitions, which have already taken three months to assemble a government and are under pressure to finish.

The partial returns prompted Shiite leaders to begin talks with the main Kurdish coalition for a possible alliance, which would become an overwhelming majority in the new 275-seat national assembly.

Outside of the religious Shiites, those two groups, along with the Kurdish coalition, are expected to be the top finishers.