Lately, I've had a ring-side seat to incredible election dramas. A surge in voter registration with record numbers of new voters signing up. Enormous voter turnout. Lopsided victories. And even political leaders getting arrested and jailed.
Listen to David's NPR interview on his experince.
No, I'm not talking about Cook County, the state of Illinois or even the U.S. I'm talking about the nation of Bangladesh, where I recently served as one of 30 American election observers for the National Democratic I
nstitute.
When I first got word of my assignment to help monitor Bangladesh's elections, I was curious about the difference between an impoverished, emerging democracy and a wealthy, established one. Bangladesh has spent half the years since its 1971 independence under military rule. With 150 million people crammed into a country the size of Iowa, it has a history of coups, strikes and corruption.
After the military cancelled the 2007 elections, it installed a caretaker government, promising to hold elections in two years. It was a tumultuous period, and the major parties' leaders were even jailed briefly on corruption charges. Finally, the caretaker government lifted an Emergency Order on December 17, 2008 and set Election Day for December 29. How would Bangladesh's 80 million registered voters handle the transition back to an electoral system?
Once there, I was impressed. From Dahka – a busy, crowded and polluted metropolis – to its green and fertile countryside, over 80% of Bangladesh's voters walked, or took ancient, pock-marked buses, or rode hair-raising motorbikes to the polls on December 29, hoping to usher in a new era of democracy.
Like the country of Bangladesh itself, many of its election practices may seem exotic to Americans. But to an election official, they were refreshing. The top distinction: a short campaign. While the key candidates were long presumed in the race, after Election Day was set, they had only two weeks to finish wooing voters. That's a stark contrast to the United States, where the last presidential campaign took nearly two years.
Another notable practice: a cooling off period. Instead of campaigning through Election Day, candidates had to wrap up by the Saturday before. It created a window of civility, minimizing the distractions of last-minute bluster and name-calling.
In an accommodation typical of emerging democracies, ballots were printed with symbols such as a boat, rice stalk or wristwatch-instead of party names-to assist the 43 percent of voters who are illiterate. Americans clamor for transparency. Ironically, one reform was providing clear, plastic ballot boxes. We observers could actually see through the sides as voters inserted their ballots, assured that no secret compartments were shredding the votes.
There were some bumps in the road. A 95 percent Muslim country, Bangladesh separates men and women into different voting lines and different voting booths. But the ideal ratio of male-to-female booths may have been miscalculated. Wherever I went, lines of women, bedecked in a rainbow of saris, stretched along walls and snaked around courtyards.
Election Day was a holiday in Bangladesh – as it is in most democracies – giving it a festive air and boosting turnout. Holiday voting is a practice the U.S. would do well to adopt. Despite the excitement over the American presidential race, Bangladesh's turnout and crowds exceeded our own.
Yet, when the polls closed, there was little delay. While it may have looked primitive to an outsider, at the end of the night, all ballots were sorted on bamboo floor mats. Under the scrutiny of judges, party observers and international monitors, the results were tallied and certified by observer signature before they were removed from the polling place.
The result? From the rural paddies to the suburban brick factories, Bangladeshis voted for the Awami League secular Grand Alliance party, giving it 262 of 299 seats in Parliament. Of course, nobody knows the future, whether alliances will hold, whether there will be a resurgence of violence. But as of December 29 there is no doubt that the people of Bangladesh want a re-emergence of democracy.
