WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 ? United States officials were surprised* and
heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's pr*esidential
election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt th*e voting.
According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 mi*llion
registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them* risked
reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.
The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietco*ng to
destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in* a
preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the i*ncomplete
returns reaching here.
A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in *President
Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional* processes
in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a cons*titutional
development that began in January, 1966, to which President *Johnson gave
his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General T*hieu, the
chief of state, in Honolulu in February.
The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saig*on
Government, which has been founded only on coups and power p*lays since
November, 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown *by a
military junta.
Few members of that junta are still around, most having been* ousted or
exiled in subsequent shifts of power.
Significance Not Diminished
The fact that the backing of the electorate has gone to the *generals who
have ruling South Vietnam for the last two years does not, i*n the
Administration's view, diminish the significance of the cons*titutional
step that has been taken.
The hope here is that the new government will be able to man*euver with a
confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese p*olitics.
That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, *indicating
widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional dev*elopment, or
by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting.
American officials had hoped for an 80 per cent turnout. Tha*t was the
figure in the election in September for the Constitutional A*ssembly.
Seventy-eight per cent of the registered voters went to the *polls in
elections for local officials last spring.
Before the results of the presidential election started to c*ome in, the
American officials warned that the turnout might be less tha*n 80 per
cent because the polling places would be open for two or thr*ee hours
less than in the election a year ago. The turnout of 83 per *cent was a
welcome surprise. The turnout in the 1964 United States Pres*idential
election was 62 per cent.
Captured documents and interrogations indicated in the last *week a
serious concern among Vietcong leaders that a major effort w*ould be
required to render the election meaningless. This effort has* not
succeeded, judging from the reports from Saigon.
In a front-page article that same day, the New York Times re*ported that
the Vietcong had launched a series of terrorist attacks thro*ughout South
Vietnam just before and during the election that left 26 dea*d and 82
wounded, but their efforts had prevented voters from reachin*g polls in
only three villages, all of them in South Vietnam's northern*most province.
heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's pr*esidential
election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt th*e voting.
According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 mi*llion
registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them* risked
reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.
The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietco*ng to
destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in* a
preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the i*ncomplete
returns reaching here.
A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in *President
Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional* processes
in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a cons*titutional
development that began in January, 1966, to which President *Johnson gave
his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General T*hieu, the
chief of state, in Honolulu in February.
The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saig*on
Government, which has been founded only on coups and power p*lays since
November, 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown *by a
military junta.
Few members of that junta are still around, most having been* ousted or
exiled in subsequent shifts of power.
Significance Not Diminished
The fact that the backing of the electorate has gone to the *generals who
have ruling South Vietnam for the last two years does not, i*n the
Administration's view, diminish the significance of the cons*titutional
step that has been taken.
The hope here is that the new government will be able to man*euver with a
confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese p*olitics.
That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, *indicating
widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional dev*elopment, or
by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting.
American officials had hoped for an 80 per cent turnout. Tha*t was the
figure in the election in September for the Constitutional A*ssembly.
Seventy-eight per cent of the registered voters went to the *polls in
elections for local officials last spring.
Before the results of the presidential election started to c*ome in, the
American officials warned that the turnout might be less tha*n 80 per
cent because the polling places would be open for two or thr*ee hours
less than in the election a year ago. The turnout of 83 per *cent was a
welcome surprise. The turnout in the 1964 United States Pres*idential
election was 62 per cent.
Captured documents and interrogations indicated in the last *week a
serious concern among Vietcong leaders that a major effort w*ould be
required to render the election meaningless. This effort has* not
succeeded, judging from the reports from Saigon.
In a front-page article that same day, the New York Times re*ported that
the Vietcong had launched a series of terrorist attacks thro*ughout South
Vietnam just before and during the election that left 26 dea*d and 82
wounded, but their efforts had prevented voters from reachin*g polls in
only three villages, all of them in South Vietnam's northern*most province.
