Referendum Day

Maybe I am soft, but it was pretty cool to see grown people enthusiastic to vote for the first time. Despite some threatening fliers telling people to stay home, there is a lot of excitement. There are a couple of polling places in my neighborhood, which I walked by a few times. From what I have seen and been told, the process is very quick and orderly. People have been issued voter identification cards, which technologically shame my Florida-issued piece of paper. The cards include a photo, barcode, and thumbprint. They show the cards to the poll workers, who are wearing bright orange vests. They find voters’ names on a list. The voters sign next to their name. Then they are given a paper ballot with two choices, yes or no. They go into a private booth and make their selection with a thumbprint in the appropriate box. On exiting, they place their ballot in an orange box. They put a thumbprint next to their name on the sheet they signed, and their right thumbnail is marked with a black marker.

Initial reports from the radio indicate that things are going relatively smoothly with good turnout. There were some delays in opening polling stations on time in other sections of the country, so, not surprisingly, voting is being extended until Monday (today). President Joseph Kabila announced on Sunday that the following day, today, would be a national holiday. Imagine a country that respects the electoral process enough to make it a paid national holiday! (The paid part doesn’t mean too much for university teachers, who are government employees who have not been paid in several months and may go on strike next month--more on this in a future blog.) As for President Kabila, before the election, he left the capital and traveled to Kivu, in the eastern part of the country, where he is pretty popular. It is not clear how long he will stay there. He may wait there for the results.

CAVEAT: My perspective is very impressionistic. I might not have the best view or access to information. Several friends here have told me bitterly that the rest of the world knew about Laurent Kabila’s assassination a couple of days before people in Kinshasa did.