BAGHDAD - The voting may be over, but the March 7 parliamentary election, viewed as a make-or-break moment for Iraq as it tries to emerge from decades of economic decline, dictatorship and war, is far from over.

Despite a fall in violence over the last two years, the oil-producing country remains a dangerous place, with daily bombings hitting security forces and citizens alike and Sunni Islamist insurgents such as Al-Qaida staging high-profile attacks.

With about 80 percent of the vote counted, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc leads in seven of 18 provinces but trails former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular, cross-sectarian Iraqiya in the national popular vote.