International students at Iowa State watched the presidential elections with as much fervor as their native counterparts did Tuesday night.

Even though international students without American citizenship are not able to vote, they still followed the presidential election with enthusiasm.

DongHoo Kim, junior in electrical engineering from South Korea, said he stayed up late watching the election results.

“I don’t know a lot about American politics, but last night was nerve-racking,” he said Wednesday. “At first, I thought Kerry was going to win because he was leading, but Bush came up and overtook Kerry. It was like watching a marathon. I just couldn’t go to bed and sleep because I was so eager to know who the winner was.”

He said he finally went to sleep around 3 a.m.

“I thought Kerry would have won because I heard that many young students would vote for him,” he said. “I just can’t believe Kerry didn’t win Iowa.”

Kim said he felt the tension growing between the two parties throughout the year. If he had been eligible to vote, it would have been difficult for him to decide whom to vote for, he said, although Kerry would have been his first choice.

“It would’ve been a tough choice for me because both had different views and approaches,” he said. “Kerry was more supportive of Korea’s Sunshine policy, which is part of Korean foreign policy toward North Korea.”

Seong Chow Lim, sophomore in economics from Malaysia, said he, too, would have voted for Kerry.

“I think Kerry would’ve provided more funding to students — that’s what he said in his platform,” Lim said.

Seung Han You, freshman in electrical engineering from South Korea, said he would have voted for Bush because he has more experience dealing with foreign affairs.

“By Bush’s overall performance in the election, I think the people believe that Bush is more qualified to be the president than Kerry. Plus, his views and visions for the country were better displayed than Kerry,” he said.

Kim said he found it interesting that a candidate can lose the presidential race even if he gets the most popular votes. In Korea, there is no electoral college — a president is elected only with the popular votes, he said.

He said the election was watched all over Korea.

“All eyes and ears were on the U.S. election in Korea, too,” he said. “I heard about 2,000 Americans living in Korea voted by filling out absentee ballots. I guess the election drew the attention of people around the world.”

Kim said he enjoyed watching the campaigns and rallies throughout the year, as it was his first experience watching a U.S. presidential election.

He said he was amazed by how many loyal supporters there were for each party, even on the ISU campus.

“In Korea, the presidential election is a pretty big thing. But here, it’s not just voting — but the mere dedication to their political parties,” he said.

He said now that Bush has won, he has to prove that he can do a better job than Kerry.