Foreign students cast mock votes at Husson

BANGOR – Some international students who cast ballots Tuesday afternoon at the Husson College mock election were happy to participate in the American democratic system, even if their votes can’t count officially.

South Korean nursing student Yun-Jung Jang, 24, would like to see a change blow over Washington in November.

“I don’t want for Bush again to become the president, because I worry about my country and its political situation,” she said. “Maybe he’ll make more of a dangerous situation.”

While Jang said that she “is not on Kerry’s side,” her anti-President George Bush stance led her to cast her vote for Democratic candidate U.S. Sen. John Kerry later that day. Not surprisingly, international issues were foremost on the Seoul native’s mind.

“I want peace. We don’t want to make the Iraq war,” she said.

The mock election is Husson’s first in at least eight years. Out of a total of 2,000 students at the college, a large number are foreign students.

A total of 194 students participated. Of those, 102 voted for Kerry, 85 voted for Bush, and 7 voted for Independent candidate Ralph Nader.

The mock election was not Jang’s first exposure to American politics. That happened last August when her visit to New York happened to coincide with the Republican convention.

“I went to Manhattan, and many people went out on the street protesting,” she said. “I watched. It was interesting.”

Two Middle Eastern students who declined to give their names had a different point of view about the president, although one said he voted for Kerry even though he believed Bush was stronger on international issues.

“I think Bush could handle situations like the one that is happening in Iraq,” the business management student said. “He knows more about international things than Kerry does.”

Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, are popular in their Persian Gulf home, according to both students, who have spent a lot of time studying in the United States.

The business management student cast his vote for Kerry despite Bush’s popularity back home, saying that he thought the Democratic challenger simply looked more presidential on television.

Husson staff who worked the voting table in the student center said that a small but steady stream of the college’s international community participated in the mock election.

Many American students also were dropping by the table, which was covered with election propaganda from each candidate.

Staff members saw the student interest as a hopeful sign that voting turnout would be high on Nov. 2.

“I think students are concerned when they hear rumors of drafting, and that’s causing a lot of awareness and attention,” Fran Tracy, director of student life, said. “We just need people to get out and vote.”