THE WORLD VOTES FOR JOHN KERRY

THE HAGUE, 11/1/'04 - If the rest of the world could vote in the U.S. Presidential election, John Kerry would win in a landslide. That's the conclusion of an international election conducted by The World Votes, an initiative that gives people all around the world a voice in the forthcoming U.S. Presidential Election.

According to the international election, John Kerry receives 81.6% of the vote. George Bush is favoured by a 6.2% minority. Independent candidate Ralph Nader gets 5.3%. The other candidates together receive less than 6%. In total, nearly 10,000 citizens from countries all over the world took part in this election.

The poll subsequently asked the participants about the expected outcome of the 2004 Presidential election. More than half (57.1%) of the respondents think that John Kerry will win the election. For this question, 42.3% thinks that Bush serve a second term in the White House.

Most participants (43.5%) think that U.S. voters will consider foreign policy as a major issue when casting their vote on November 2. One third of the voters however say that Americans will not consider foreign policy a key theme upon casting their vote.

The U.S. election is widely considered by the participants (91.4%) to be an international event. However, almost half of the respondents (46.9%) indicated that the rest of the world should not have a say in the election. Only a mere 6.8% says that the U.S. election is purely a domestic issue.

The survey results are mailed to all respondents - including more than 4,000 American citizens- as well as to international and U.S. media. But the World Votes has no intent to influence the democratic process in the U.S. "We just want to urge U.S. voters to keep the rest of the world in mind when casting their vote", says Wiebe de Jager, one of the initiators.

The World Votes has been discussed all over the world on Internet and in the media. In the past few weeks, the International Herald Tribune, BBC News and the L.A. Times paid attention to the initiative.

About The World Votes

The World Votes is a non-profit, primarily symbolic action to mobilize world citizens to become enfranchised in the debate about a more democratic management of world affairs. The World Votes is based in the Netherlands.

The World Votes is a member of The World Speaks a gateway to worldwide action, dialogue, and information about the U.S. Presidential election in November 2004.