Ain't no mountain high enough...

Well, I voted and made it back in one piece. And I have the proof right here:












It went surprisingly well. I'm still in shock. I didn't sleep well at all. Even though I put my alarm on for 5h am, I was awake before that.

We all got dressed and ate a quick breakfast. We met our neighbors around 6h am but there were latecomers so I guess we got to the voting center around 6h30. Like I said in my previous post, we were transferred to a school, the Lycee Marie-Jeanne.

When we got there, the line was to the half point of the street. Around 7h, I left the group to see how far it was. It was up to 3 times that many. I'm guessing 100 people, easily.

So we waited, and waited. At around 7h40, the voting started. It was supposed to begin at 6h but they were late. At 8h25, there were 20 between me and the gates of the school.

While all this waiting was happening, the elderly and the pregnant got to cut in front. There were also the observers, the party mandated people, some press and the local police. I only saw 1 Canadian cop, which was a big surprise. My father says the police was in plain clothes.

At 8h40, my mother and the rest of our group got in but my brother and I, we were locked out. We got in 10 minutes later.

You were assigned a classroom by alphabetical letter and there was a bit of confusion. Lots of people lost their temper because they couldn't find their correct line.

I was out of there by 9h45 am. In the end, my mother, brother and I voted in the same room. They had to find our names on a list with the card number and a picture. You get checked, you vote, then you sign to get your card back, they paint your thumbnail and tada.

I have to say the biggest problem for me was that the only thing separating you while voting was this cardboard contraption: two pieces of carton fitted together in the middle. No real privacy.

And it was even worse for the couple of voting posts outside in the yard. Anyone could see what the voter was marking. Plus, school benches are NOT for adults, thank you very much.

We went down the line before we left for home. I estimate 200-250 people were in line. And there was at least as much at the center across the street.

My aunt lived in Petion-Ville, in the mountains actually, and she went at 2h30, got out at 4h30. Heard the same story from someone else, but she was at another center in PV.

All in all, it was a good day. A few casualties but no big drama. I don't get why the journalists at the official press conference where so negative in their assessment.

Ok, so the next step is the results. I'll let you know asap. For now, I'm off to bed, I'm dead on my feet. Who knew doing your civic duty was so tiring?