Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
November 4, 2004

Mideast, European and Asian Students Observe American Democracy;
Exchange students visit polls, study American electoral process

by Phyllis McIntosh, Washington File Special Correspondent

TEXT: Washington — Thirty-three exchange students from 16 countries
across the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Central, South and
Southeast Asia spent Election Day in the United States, November 2,
learning how the country elects its leaders and witnessing democracy in
action at a polling place in Washington.

After a State Department briefing about the U.S. electoral process, the
students walked to nearby Jefferson Junior High School where they
observed neighborhood people voting, studied a sample ballot, and asked
questions of local election officials.

The students, aged 15-17, are spending a year living and studying in
the United States through the Department of State’s Youth Exchange and
Study (YES) program for students from predominantly Muslim countries,
and the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program, which enrolls students
from countries of the former Soviet Union.

The 33 students who participated in the Election Day visit come from
Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon,
Moldova, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine, the West Bank, and Yemen. All are living with host families
and attending schools in the Washington metropolitan area.

Election Day provided the students “a unique opportunity to observe the
workings of the American political process up close,” said Robert
Persiko, chief of the Youth Programs Division of the State Department’s
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

He challenged the teenagers to find ways to interpret what they
observed about American democracy in action to their friends and
families in their home countries.

Students from a number of countries — from Afghanistan to Yemen,
Armenia to Syria — reported considerable interest in this election
among people at home. “People do care about it because we have a
relationship with the United States, and we have to work together,”
said a YES student from Pakistan.

Some saw the impact of the election in global terms. “America is such a
powerful nation so it [the U.S. presidential election] is important not
just for America but for every country,” said a girl from Armenia, a
participant in the FLEX program.

“The whole world is watching this election,” declared a YES student
from the Philippines. “This election will determine not only the fate
of the United States but also the fate of the world.”

Several students from Afghanistan said they were especially excited to
be witnessing the American election, which comes less than a month
after the first democratic election ever held in their country. They
expressed some regret at not being home for that historic event, but
one boy said he was pleased to “observe that American people are
excited for voting and selecting the new leader of America.”

An Afghan girl was concerned how the outcome of the U.S. election might
affect further progress in her country, where the U.S. was instrumental
in overthrowing the repressive Taliban regime. “Women now have the
right of studying, of voting, of working,” she said. “What happens in
America will be very important for Afghanistan.”

The students said they were closely following the presidential
campaign. Most had watched the televised debates between President Bush
and challenger John Kerry, and they frequently discussed the campaign
with their host families and friends at school. Like Americans, many
expressed a strong preference for one candidate over the other and were
eagerly looking forward to watching the election returns on television.

They marveled how American teenagers and even younger children have
been captivated by the campaign. “It’s not like in our country, where
people like elders do care about elections but younger teenagers don’t
care and aren’t aware of them,” said a young man from Pakistan. “Here
the teenagers are so enthusiastic, wearing badges on their jackets and
stickers on the back of their cars. I see conflict in school between
supporters of the two parties, with students talking about politics and
arguing with each other.”

During their visit to the polling place, the students were especially
interested in how the U.S. protects against frauds, such as duplicate
voting. Election officials explained how individual polling places
check registration records and require voters to sign a card or book
before they vote and how votes cast on new computerized touch-screen
machines are backed up by a paper record.

The students rounded out their Election Day activities with a visit to
the Voice of America (VOA) studios in Washington, where several Afghan
students were thrilled to meet reporters whose voices they recognized
from broadcasts back home. The students’ voices will soon be heard in
their homeland as well, because VOA staff took the opportunity to
interview them about their experiences in the United States.

At the end of the day, some of the students sensed that they had had an
opportunity to experience history in the making. “I’m so proud to be
here,” declared the boy from Pakistan. “This election is so important.
I can say some time in my future life, a [tilde]I was there on that
Election Day in Washington, D.C.'”

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)