Today is November 6th, a great day for American people who are going to vote for their future President. For me who came to Afghanistan when the Taliban regime collapsed and the transitional government came into power, being on Election Day in a country like the USA was an unbelievable experience.

 

I went to the voting center with Francesco Rulli. It was just a few minutes away. While we were walking to the voting center, I was expecting to see some security guards and police officers but nothing went wrong. In Afghanistan, when it is the election day, they start to take care of security issues a week before and you can see that something very special is going to happen.

We entered the voting center without any security check. I was wondering how they would let me get in because I don't have the right to vote. I was afraid that the staff would come and ask me why I was here. B nothing happened.

The atmosphere was so calm and everybody looked very happy rather than to afraid of something like a bomb blast or a terrorist attack which would be normal in Afghanistan on special days like that.

 

 

People have to register first and then they vote. The impressive thing about the registration was the form you had to fill out. It consists of a specific barcode, your first and last name and a sample of your signature. If the information matches, they give you the final voting form and you go to the voting booth . Then you scan the voting form and the process is over.

The whole voting process takes maybe 10-15 minutes and is done efficiently and with transparency. I wish we had a situation like that in Afghanistan but I won't dream of it. I believe that there is a way to get out of the current situation and that would be by giving access to EDUCATION and INTERNET to young Afghan children which is a very powerful aspect on how to drive the society towards a bright future.