South Viet Nam: The Candidates Emerge

The first stage of South Viet Nam's nationwide elections, the polling to select village officials, is nearing an end. So far, despite Viet Cong terrorism aimed at disrupting the elections, about 81% of all the voters in polling areas have gone to the polls to cast their ballots into the red-and-yellow straw boxes. By the end of April, some 1,800,000 Vietnamese in 991 villages will have exercised this basic right of democracy for the first time. In June, another 400,000 Vietnamese will vote in hamlet elections.

The pattern of voting reflects the realities—and the hopes—of the war in Viet Nam...