Kosovo Ponders U.S. Democracy in Action

P R I S T I N A, Kosovo, Nov. 20, 2000 -- There’s a joke doing the rounds in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo among American expatriates, and others. The punchline is that perhaps the OSCE (the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) should have organized and run the U.S. presidential election.

Less funny is that many people believe it.

On October 28, just over a week before the U.S. election, Kosovo held its first free democratic election in over a decade. The OSCE organized and ran the election.

This was not a presidential or parliamentary election. It was a municipal election — an election to choose local leaders who will deal with the important issues of garbage removal, road reconstruction, electricity and water.

Despite the seeming insignificance of these issues to most U.S., over 75 percent of all Kosovars who were registered to vote, voted.

Not only did they vote, but they waited in line for more than four hours in some cases to exercise their right to vote. And now, Kosovars, like many others from all over the world, are simply perplexed by the recent U.S. presidential election.

First and foremost, Kosovars and other non-U.S. citizens alike cannot understand how it is possible for a president to be elected without receiving a majority of the popular vote. I cannot tell you how many people have asked me to explain the Electoral College system of voting.

I was embarrassed to find that I could not explain it or its history in detail without doing some research. Kosovars and other internationals alike believe the Electoral College is simply undemocratic and should be abolished.

Baffling Variety of Ballots

Second, all Kosovars voted on the same ballot form and in the same manner — ;in a cardboard booth with a paper ballot and a pen. How is it, many ask, that people all over the U.S. vote on different ballots and some electronically, some by punching a hole in a paper ballot and some by pen and paper ballot?

In Kosovo there was one ballot and every Kosovar who voted used a pen to mark their vote, folded it up and put it in a box. There was only one set of rules about what constituted a valid or invalid ballot and those rules were applied uniformly. Kosovars cannot understand why the U.S. permits such disparity in ballots and voting procedures.

Third, in Kosovo all the votes were counted by hand and national and international observers watched. Having observed the hand counting of ballots that lasted until 2:00 a.m., I will admit it is probably not the most reliable process to be developed, but it has significant merit.

Also, the polling supervisor (after consulting with international observers) had the final word as to which ballots were invalid and not to be counted. In addition to the international observers, observers from the political parties were present for the count and would have objected to and reported any irregularities.

Being Observed

In fact, political and international observers were present for the entire election process and would have objected to and reported any irregularities. How is it possible that no one in the U.S. objected to the vote during the polling process but now there are all these after-the-fact legal challenges is another question being asked.

And even more compelling is the question: “How can one of the newest and least sophisticated democracies hold a free, fair election with no substantial disputes over the process and outcome when the U.S.—the role model of democracy — cannot get it right?”

As a U.S. citizen working in Kosovo I find it all a bit embarrassing. The U.S. is supposed to be the ideal of democracy. When I think about my experience as an international observer of the Kosovo elections and what the U.S. can learn from it, I do not dwell on the process.

The process in Kosovo was quite unsophisticated, very time consuming and in some respects down right primitive — but it worked.

The Value of the Vote

When I think about why it worked, I can’t help but think it was because of the Kosovars and their valuing their right to vote. They wanted the process to work and were willing to do whatever it took to have a free and fair election and have their votes count.

I saw people walk miles to the closest polling station, stand in line for hours outside the polling station. The images were compelling: an old woman bringing her 12-year-old grandson with her to read her the ballot because she could not read, a Serbian woman waiting in line with hundreds of Albanians and risking her own personal safety — in order to vote.

And I cannot help but wonder if all the U.S. citizens who are now so concerned with the outcome of the Presidential election actually voted — would there be such a crisis and so many questions about the democratic process surrounding the presidential election?

Kosovo, has been administered by the United Nations since the end of a 78-day air war in June 1999 to force an end to a Serb campaign of repression against ethnic Albanians.