Vote in the 2004 US Presidential Election

Later this year, Americans are to vote for a new president. Whoever they may choose, the outcome bears consequences far beyond US domestic affairs, as decisions made by the US President affect the lives of citizens on all continents.

Not surprisingly, some people believe that non-US citizens should have a say in the outcome of the election and a site entitled theworldvotes.org has been set up where the rest of the world can have a voice in elections that matter.

'The foreign policy of the new president is of direct concern to citizens around the world' says Wiebe de Jager, one of the initiators of the project.

'What is missing is a means for citizens around the world to express themselves and be counted. This is what theworldvotes.org seeks to be: a community for the world's citizenry to let present and future presidents know what they expect of the world's most powerful state.'

With the primary objective of giving world citizens a voice by casting a vote during the forthcoming US presidential election, the website also facilitates an international dialogue about how global governance can become more democratic.

Visitors to the website can register to vote. Before the presidential election takes place in Novemeber, those who registered will receive a ballot by e-mail. The initiators hope the initiative will draw subscribers from all over the world.

To achieve this, the initiators call upon organisations that endorse the idea to enlist with theworldvotes.org and to encourage their membership to sign up.

Theworldvotes.org is a non-profit, primarily symbolic action to mobilise world citizens to become enfranchised in the debate about a more democratic management of world affairs.

At a different level, this debate was recently initiated by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan. Theworldvotes is not intended to be an anti-America or anti-George W. Bush Platform.

www.theworldvotes.org