Chicagoans who voted in the Croatian election on Sunday were overwhelming supporters of incumbent President Franjo Tudjman, much like counterparts who took part in the same election in their homeland.
The Croatian legislature allowed Croatian citizens around the world to vote in the election because so many natives have fled the country during the last 50 years. A year-old civil war with neighbor Serbia has also made many citizens leave.
The election was Croatia`s first since declaring its independence from Yugoslavia last summer.
More than 1,000 people cast ballots at two Chicago polling sites, said Miriana Rasich, who helped coordinate the local voting. She said 70 percent of local voters favored Tudjman, 13 percent chose Dobroslav Paraga, and 9 percent cast ballots for Drazen Budisa. The other five candidates totaled 8 percent of the vote.
As of noon Tuesday, unofficial tallies gave Tudjman about 56 percent of the vote worldwide, compared to 22 percent for Budisa and 5 percent for Paraga, according to a Croatian information center.
”It shows that there`s no difference between Croatians in the (rest of the world) and in Croatia,” said Ivica Metzger, a North Side resident and editor of the local show ”Radio Free Croatia.” ”It shows that we would like to support what`s going on over there and what has already happened.”
Rasich said that 2,000 ballots had been prepared in Chicago and that organizers had expected about 1,500 people to vote.
”That`s not bad, but we were thinking if the campaign had been more extended, more people would have come,” Rasich said.
About 75 percent of the country`s 3.5 million eligible voters went to the polls in Croatia.
The election also included voting for Croatia`s parliament, or Sabor. Chicagoans supported Tudjman`s Croatian Democratic Union with 60 percent of the vote. Worldwide the Croatian Democratic Union carried 43 percent, giving it a plurality.
