Thursday, October 09, 2008

long distance democracy

Just a quick post because I am super excited that my absentee ballot came in the mail today (along with some books from a friend--thank you Twists!)...and that I will be able to vote in the most historic presidential election of my life thus far.

26 days and counting! :-)

P.S. Nicaragua also has an election this November (Sunday, November 9th)--every city will be electing a new mayor (term limit laws prohibit incumbents from running)--and the campaign season is in full swing (though I avoid most of it by not watching Nica tv). In Managua, the contest is between neo-liberal former presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre (perhaps not so affectionately known as "El Ratoncito" around town) and former boxer Alexis Arguello of the FSLN (Sandinistas). About a month ago the Supreme Electoral Council decided that two other parties had violated some election related laws and would not be able to participate in the elections. Whether or not the decision was justified, it certainly is limiting people's options this time around because of the well-known "pacto" between Daniel Ortega and his rival and former president Aleman that enables the two of them to control the majority of government related decisions. Wish I could say more, but I can't.

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