brener@milrat.DEC (11/08/84)
>The comparison shown for two contries' elections (Salvador and >Nicaragua) reminds me of another country, where I voted probably a >dosen of times until I left it for the USA. I am talking about the >USSR. > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >feature Country A Country B >------- --------- --------- > >>voting privacy Full-size booth. No booth. > Ankle-length Wall on three sides of top of > blue curtains. ballot bax (~1-ft high) to hide > hands from view. Box in sight > of govt. observers. > > > In USSR: Full size booth. Full size red curtains. > > >>ballot boxes Solid plywood. Clear lucite plastic. > Interior not Ink visible thru once-folded > visible. ballot. > > In USSR: Solid plywood. Interior not visible. > > >>ballots ? Numbered, matching number > opposite voter's signature in > sign-in book. > > In USSR: Blind, no correlation between a ballot and a person > > >>procdure Show voter id. Validate personal id. > Needed to: > No impact on other Cash paycheck. > activities. Get medical attention. > Pass checkpoints of the > security forces. > > In USSR: Show the passport (every sitizen must carry the > passport at all times, though it is not always > done in practice). No impact on other > activities. > > >>participation 7 opposition parties 6 right-to-far-right parties > (4 left, 3 right?) on ballot. All opposition > on ballot. Reagan- leaders on army death list, > backed candidate published in major newspapers > boycotted, asking in the capital. They boycotted. > postponement until > his chances of winning > improved. No death squads. No death threats. One > candidate kidnapped by CIA-backed mercenaries, > present status unknown. > > > In USSR: This is the only difference - no opposition. > But it should be noted that Nicaraguan > opposition that did not withdraw is, by its number, > is equivalent to Soviet write-ins. > > >I think this is a good comparison also. Looks like a perfect >democratic election. But I hope that even liberals know the value of >the Soviet election. Exactly the same type of election has been >carried on in many other communist countries. Some of those countries, >like Poland, are even allowed to have a few "independent" parties, but >the total picture is the same. Yesterday a Boston TV station >interviewed a few people who returned to Boston from Nicaragua, they >also were fooled by the performance. What I am saying here is not just >an academic discussion - my knowledge of the subject is first-hand. I >was born and grew up in Russia, I HAD TO TAKE PART IN PREPARATIONS AND >OBSERVING ELECTIONS. I came to the USA just three years ago. > >Leo Simon >decwrl!rhea!elwood!simon I think that by comparison the elections in Nicaragua were democratic, they don't have death squads and they don't have *registered-numbered* ballots that make voting traceable to the voter and therefore individually accountable for their vote. Voting the "wrong" way in El Salvador is nearly an act of heroism. It may be also intersting to note that i had 2 friends who have spent a considerable amount of time in Nicaragua, they arrange for Americans to go over there and are very concerned for the truth and human rights. They had the good fortune to be able to speak to the Ambassador there at the time (i thinkit was Anthony Quainton) and informed him that they felt that u.s. policy towards Nicaragua was wrong, and that the Nicaraguan gov't was responsible for some great strides in health, welfare and education. He said "off the record" that he knows that they are right, but that America has it's interests. As John Foster Dulles (former Secretary of State who was involved in the over- throw of the Guatemalan Gov't in 1954) once said "America has no friends, only interests". steve b Thu 8-Nov-1984 10:25 EDT