South Viet Nam: Toward the Election

South Viet Nam’s constitutional assembly campaign was in full swing last week amid a blaze of huge red and yellow Vietnamese flags and a blare of sound trucks. Up and down the narrow nation, posters blossomed bearing the arcane symbols of the candidates’ slates: the Lamp, the Lotus Blossom, the Cock & Hand, the Woman with a Basket. Declared banners and placards in Sai gon: TO VOTE IS TO BEGIN BUILDING DEMOCRACY.

To the enemy, it was an alarming thought. The Viet Cong has pledged “to smash the election farce of the U.S. aggressors and their henchmen in Saigon,” and ordered all the 541 candidates running for 108 places in the assembly—to be elected Sept. 1 1—to “withdraw their names immediately” on pain of death. So far the V.C. have talked tougher than they have acted: no candidates have yet been assassinated. But Communist cadres have been infiltrating hamlets and villages at night to conduct anti-election seminars, and have begun stealing identification cards and voter registration slips from peasants. The Viet Cong are also reportedly planning to attack polling places on Election Day. The government will be waiting. All police leaves have been canceled, roving patrols and communication networks set up. In Saigon alone, some 13,000 policemen will blanket the city’s 559 polling places.

To ensure against any charges that the election is rigged, the military government of Premier Ky has laid down tough equal-time-and-money rules for all candidates—including the 55 military officers in the running. No candidate may spend more than 200,000 piasters during the official fortnight of campaigning, nor may he post more than 500 signs, distribute more than 120,000 handbills. Moreover, in each electoral district, all local candidates must campaign together, shaking hands and making speeches only as a group. The U.S., too, is guarding against any appearance of unduly influencing the outcome: all U.S. personnel except combat troops in the field will be confined to quarters for 34 hours during the actual voting—and the combat troops must stay well clear of all polling areas.