Burmese Americans Rose and Molly Zolianbawi have faced many challenges in their transition to life in the United States.

It was a transition from speaking no English to speaking the language as comfortably as their native tongue, and from having no choice under a military dictator to having a right to vote for one American presidential candidate over another.

"I grew up in Burma where you can't choose who's going to be your ruler," medical technology junior Rose Zolianbawi said. "Over here, at least you have a chance to choose, even though the parties choose who's going to be their representatives."

Rose Zolianbawi, 21, was among the record-high number of registered voters in Michigan this year. She registered in July and voted in Battle Creek on Election Day.

"I want to take a certain person out of his office," said Rose Zolianbawi, who considers herself a Democrat and voted for John Kerry. "Republicans are only good if you have a certain amount of income whereas Democrats are for working class."

Premedical freshman Molly Zolianbawi, 18, said she is not eligible to vote this year because she has not yet sworn in as a citizen, but hopes to vote in the next election.

The Zolianbawis said even though they don't agree with every policy of the Democratic Party, they have good reason to support Democrats because they feel like they owe the party for their lives in the United States.

The Zolianbawi family was one of the early beneficiaries of a green card lottery program started under the Bill Clinton administration in 1994 to boost immigration from countries with a low rate of immigrants to the United States. Under the program, the U.S. government gives away 50,000 green cards - which give immigrants permanent residency in the United States - to randomly selected applicants.

"Bill Clinton is the reason we are here," Rose Zolianbawi said. "We didn't really expect to win it, but we got it."

The new immigrants can apply for citizenship in five years and have to take tests on the general knowledge of the United States to become new U.S. citizens, Rose Zolianbawi said.

The Zolianbawis became American citizens in March.

Other than having a U.S. passport, they said the only real difference between being a permanent resident and being a citizen is being able to vote.

Political experts say new immigrant voters can have an impact on the course of an election, especially when the election was as close as this year's.

"If the election is close, it doesn't have to be a huge number," MSU political science Professor Brian Silver said.

The political platform of the Democratic Party traditionally has drawn many working-class immigrants, said Julio Guerrero, Chicano and Latino Coordinator of the Office for Racial Ethnic Student Affairs. He added that first-generation immigrants are more likely to participate in voting as opposed to second- and third-generation immigrants.

"They can see the blueprint of how they could have an impact on politics," he said. "They are excited about their new country and the new civil opportunities."

The Zolianbawis left their home country with their family to find a better life in the United States when the country was suffering the brutal oppression of a military dictator.

They lived in a small Christian-dominated village in Myanmar - which was once known as Burma - where 95 percent of the national population are Buddhists, Rose Zolianbawi said.

The sisters, who are Christians, left the country at early ages, but they said they still remember the suffering.

"Military people prosecuted people who were not Buddhists," Molly Zolianbawi said. "A lot of people come here because they are Christians, for their beliefs."

The most horrendous experience for them came in August 1988, when student movements against the military government swept the country, which is known as the 888 movement.

The political turmoil lasted more than a year, and schools were closed during the movements, Rose Zolianbawi said.

Then-elementary-school-aged Rose Zolianbawi saw the beheading of a woman reporter on national television.

"I remember being really horrified," she said. "They were using a very, very dull knife to cut her head, over and over again."

The Zolianbawis said the United States should step up its effort to reach out to needy third-world countries such as Myanmar, where living conditions continue to deteriorate.

"America is talking about spreading democracy throughout the world, but there are some countries that need democracy, but America is turning deaf ears to them," Molly Zolianbawi said.

"The only reason America interferes and helps out other countries is to gain something," Rose Zolianbawi said. "Countries like Burma really need help and democracy, but they have nothing to offer, they don't have an oil field."

The Zolianbawis said they rule out returning to live in Myanmar, though they plan to visit their home country in December for the first time since they left.

"It's gotten so much worse than when we left," Rose Zolianbawi said. "You have to have a stack of cash to go to the store. The government is even more pushing people to become Buddhists.

"I'm not scared, but for someone who is living there, it could be scary."

Still, they are not completely cut off from the Burmese culture. They speak the language with each other and celebrate Burmese holidays. And the cultural mix-up gives them a new identity.

"We are Burmese Americans," Rose Zolianbawi said, and her sister added, "Because we still celebrate the cultural heritage, but we are reformed Americans."

Jun Yang can be reached at yangjuns@msu.edu.