Postpone for Democracy

It's an arduous task, holding fair elections when the population being asked to choose is poorly educated and access to information consists of pictures on billboards and word-of-mouth. The presidential elections, held every five years, have so far been pushed back 2 weeks due to insufficient distribution of voting cards. But they've been peacefully delayed, so there's no cause for alarm. From what I can tell, there are two main candidates in the north, although I've seen smatterings of support for other less-funded aspiring presidents. Up until about a month ago, there were very few billboards or pamphlets being distributed for any candidate. Now, billboards like this for the incumbent, YAYI Boni, are common in larger cities.



While there are plenty of little pieces of paper being tossed around by little kids supporting this candidate, ABT, some people still choose to campaign the old-fashioned way: by painting blandly on as-yet-unfinished buildings.




And then some people are so devoted to their local candidates that they can't bare to physically separate themselves from him (or her).


Music's in the air, people are registering at the last minute, and you can feel the buzz of an impassioned crowd. Some pundits are (correctly) labeling this an extension of the fete season. Others are calling it a triumph for West Africa's Latin Quarter. No matter what, this should be an interesting weekend. That is, of course, if election day isn't again prolonged...