November 4, 2004: Headlines: COS - Togo: Elections2004: The News-Press: Francois Boko decided to come to Southwest Florida at the invitation of his friend — Naples attorney Steve Grogoza, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Togo — to watch the elections process in the United States

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Togo: Peace Corps Togo : The Peace Corps in Togo: November 4, 2004: Headlines: COS - Togo: Elections2004: The News-Press: Francois Boko decided to come to Southwest Florida at the invitation of his friend — Naples attorney Steve Grogoza, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Togo — to watch the elections process in the United States

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-141-157-21-111.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.21.111) on Saturday, November 06, 2004 - 2:41 pm: Edit Post

Francois Boko decided to come to Southwest Florida at the invitation of his friend — Naples attorney Steve Grogoza, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Togo — to watch the elections process in the United States

Francois Boko decided to come to Southwest Florida at the invitation of his friend — Naples attorney Steve Grogoza, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Togo — to watch the elections process in the United States

Francois Boko decided to come to Southwest Florida at the invitation of his friend — Naples attorney Steve Grogoza, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Togo — to watch the elections process in the United States

Election impresses Togolese official

He hopes to incorporate policies in homeland
By DENES HUSTY III
dhusty@news-press.com
Published by news-press.com on November 4, 2004

One observer of the elections in Southwest Florida on Tuesday night said he came away with a greater faith in the democratic process.

Francois Boko, 39, wasn't an observer for either major political party or one of several attorneys hovering around the Collier County elections office to make sure there was no voter fraud.

Boko is the minister of the interior and security for the West African nation of Togo.

His country — a former French colony — became a democracy in 1991.

Togo is still fine-tuning its electoral process, Boko said.

So he decided to come to Southwest Florida at the invitation of his friend — Naples attorney Steve Grogoza, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Togo — to watch the elections process in the United States, Boko said.

What impressed him the most — and what he intends to incorporate into Togolese process — is the way minor disputes about votes and procedures are handled here, Boko said.

Issues such as which absentee ballots will count and which ones won't — because they weren't signed or dated or for some other infraction — are settled here by the local canvassing board with observers of both major parties, Boko said.

In Togo, even minor issues regarding the election process are handled by the courts, he said.

"The most impressive thing to me is that when there is a problem, there is a way to resolve the problem publicly. That gives confidence in the system," Boko said.

He said he also learned that while people may disagree about politics, they can walk into the polling place, cast their votes and walk out and still be friends.

In Togo, fights sometimes break out in polling places, Boko said. He said all Togolese polling places are staffed with armed police officers.

The Togolese interior minister said he'll incorporate what he learned here into the elections process in his country, where there are some 3 million voters.

There is also something about elections that United States officials can learn from Togo, Boko said.

In Togo, there is a centralized computer base listing every registered voter, which makes it easy to stop people who try to register twice in different areas, Boko said.

Grogoza — who was a voluntary observer for last year's presidential election in Togo — said he may return to observe the parliamentary elections.





When this story was posted in November 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

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Story Source: The News-Press

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Togo; Elections2004

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