Election Day

Today. November 28th, 2011.

Congolese are going to the voting polls in their communities to vote for the leaders they hope to see in office. 

We don't know how this will happen. 

People are anxious. Nervous. 

What will happen?

And when results are announced, on December 6th, what will happen? 

This is Jason Stearns' blog again, with a gut-wrenching post from last night, quoted in part:

Accusations of election irregularities have proliferated over the past days - first, observers noticed that hundreds of polling stations either didn't exist or had been planned without informing the locales. Then, hundreds of thousands of voters in Ituri and Idjwi (South Kivu) discovered that their names were not on the list of voters. Finally, numberous accusations have emerged of ballot having been found with Kabila's name already checked. 

Argh. The part about the ballots with Kabila's name already checked make me feel so sick to my stomach... 

Our friends in Beni who told us that many people found their names to be missing from the lists at the centers where they registered to vote, have said there is a change... Noé just texted me that CENI (the Congolese electoral commission) is allowing the people to vote but they have to put their names on a list or something... We're not sure what that means / if their votes will be counted. But we'll see. 

Below are a few news articles for you to read... To be more aware of what is being said in the area as voters are going to the polls (if the polls are still there, which is one thing we're hearing from Beni - some of the polls aren't there anymore).

BBC News - DR Congo votes amid fears of violence
Al Jazeera - DR Congo votes
VOA - Electoral Commission Says DR Congo '99% Ready'
Congo Planet - Congolese start voting in landmark elections
BBC News - Profiles of Kabila, Tshisekedi and Kamerhe
Al Jazeera News: What elections mean to us

Please do keep praying for Congo today... And these coming weeks as we wait for the results to be published.

The voting stations or polls opened early this morning, and will supposedly stay open until the voters have finished. I don't know what that means exactly but today will be a long day for many! 

Please pray for our students, teachers, staff, friends and family in the DR Congo. And that this process will make the way to a new future for the country.