VOA标准英语2010年-Thousands of Britons Give Their Votes

British voters go to the polls May 6 after a political campaign that has seen domestic issues in the forefront. But there is a new element to this election that has a decidedly foreign angle -- non-British citizens living in Afghanistan, Ghana, and Bangladesh are going to be able to vote. "Give Your Vote" is a new project that lets Britons donate their vote to people living in the developing world.

Banners promoting Britain's upcoming election were paraded down the streets of Kabul last week.
Flyers were handed out that told Afghans about the foreign policies of Britain's top party leaders.
It is a campaign to inform Afghans about Britain's election - because some of them are going to be voting in it.

 They will choose the political party they think has the best policies for Afghanistan...and then text or email that choice to a voter in Britain, who will cast it for them.

Current Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a supporter here:

AFGHAN VOTER1: "I have done my selection and I have selected him to give my vote and before this he has done many things for Afghanistan."

But so too does his top rival:

AFGHAN VOTER2: "I decided¹ to give to Conservative Mr. David Cameron. Why? Because he has a clean policy regarding Afghanistan."

Back in Britain, when voters go to the polls in a general election May 6, several thousand will cast their ballot² for a candidate chosen by a person living in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Ghana.

May Abdalla helped set up the project. She describes how the voting works:

"Anybody in these three countries can text a local number with how they want to vote and then on election day somebody in the UK will receive that text message and carry out that vote on their behalf," she said.

Give Your Vote was started up last year by a handful of young people from an activist³ group called Egality.

They think everyone in the world should have an equal say in the issues that affect them.

Abdalla says Bangladesh, Ghana, and Afghanistan were chosen because of the importance for them of Britain's decisions on climate change, agricultural subsidies⁴, and war. 

With a global electorate⁵, says Abdallah, politicians will have to think twice about their policies.

"The difference between the parties are symbolic⁶ of who those parties represent," added Abdallah.  "As long as they're representing only UK interests, their policies are focused towards the people who will be voting in that election. So it's through expanding that electorate that you're expanding the policies."

One person who will be giving her vote is Fanny James, 23. She says she's not losing out.

"It's like a shared vote rather than my own vote because it's still me casting a vote in my name, I'm just taking on board someone else's situation," said James.

Fanny James is donating her vote, but what about the rest of Britain? We asked a few Londoners:

LONDONER 1: "I think it's important to use my vote for myself, but I think there's plenty of other people out there who would be more than willing to give their vote away given, I guess, how few people voted in the last elections, I'm sure there's lots of people willing to give a vote away."
LONDONER 2: "I think so, yes, I would."
LONDONER 3: "No I wouldn't. I think it's quite important that the people of this country vote for who they want to be in power within our own country."

But vote donor⁷, Fanny James says she lives in a world where economies, war and climate work on a global scale, and she thinks politics should too.

"Our democracy is completely national and is maintained on a really national scale and it seems like that hasn't really evolved with the rest of the world," added Fanny.

Globalized elections - it's bound to raise some eyebrows⁸, but it certainly has some fans in Kabul.
 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

6 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

7 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

8 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。