Last Monday, members of the editorial board had the pleasure of spending a day with Reem Yousuf Al-Harami of Qatar and Elham Mustafa A. Salih of Sudan, who through the Elections 2012 Visiting Journalists Program are working out of The Roanoke Times newsroom to cover the American presidential election.

The journalists arrived here from two very different countries, but both women share a disbelief that some Americans remain apathetic about voting.

Over lunch and a delightful conversation about politics and voting, Al-Harami remarked how she has never voted — not even for high school class officers — and that she longs to vote. She can’t imagine why any American would treat the right to vote so cavalierly.

We asked her to write on the topic, and her essay appears today on the cover of this section.

Both women plan on Election Day to visit polling places. It would be good if they spot you there.