In Russia Reston, Polls Watch You!

When banana republics in third world countries hold "elections," other countries routinely send delegations to stare solemnly at stuffed ballot boxes, rigged voting machines and/or Jimmy Carter. For some reason, this adds "legitimacy" when the Dear Leader wins by a 99.97 percent margin.

Well, after two hilariously close elections, we're getting that same kind of "help."

A delegation of five Russian leaders will visit Reston from Oct. 31 to Nov. 8 to observe the U.S. election process and learn about government down to the community level.

The Reston-Herndon branch of the American Association of University Women will host the delegation of economists and government officials with a grant from the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress.

The delegation will visit South Lakes High School, meet with community leaders and elected officials, speak to the Reston Rotary Club and appear on a local public affairs television program. The group also will observe political campaigns in action and visit the polls in Reston on Election Day.

The public is invited to meet the group and learn about Russia at a town meeting at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m.

Sweet! Attending that town meeting would be totally worth it, because we know they'll tell some awesome jokes.