Local Elections

I have had the pleasure of observing local elections in both Niger and Rwanda. As a former student of government, I have found the experiences absolutely fascinating.

On Monday February 22^nd Rwanda held elections for local offices. Rwanda is divided into five separate provinces, each divided into a number of districts, divided into sectors, divided into cells, divided into umudugudus (sort of like large neighborhoods). As usual, I understand maybe a quarter of what’s going on around me so I think these were elections at the district, sector, and cell level.

My host mother, Alice, was running for one of the sector level positions reserved for women. Over the weekend I walked around town with her and observed as she greeted everyone and handed out flyers with her picture and slogan. It was really fun for me to notice the big differences but also subtle similarities between local campaigns in Rwanda, Niger, and the United States.

On Election Day I was woken up around 6AM to singing and drum beating, which my host mother informed me occured in every umudugudu across Rwanda as a way to remind people to go vote. In Rwanda and Niger local Election Day is a national holiday, and people in both countries have told me about the importance of their right and responsibility to vote.

The polling places I witnessed in both African countries had very festive atmospheres. Here in Rwanda, people were dressed in their Sunday best and walked gingerly into the various classrooms to vote.

In Niger, men and women sat separately in groups outside the schoolroom, joking and amusing themselves as they waited for names to be called individually to go vote. In the meantime, children ran around selling fried food and drinks, which in a strange way reminded me very much of Major League Baseball games in the United States.

I voted in Ithaca, NY’s local elections during the falls of 2008 and 2009. My senior year, I walked into a church in Collegetown at 5PM, and if I remember correctly I was the 32^nd person to vote. Both times, I did get pretty awesome stickers, and two great City Council members!