Elections in Cote d'Ivoire!

Yes, yes, yes it finally came. The day that we all thought would never come. Remember earlier this year when reforms were put in on the electoral commission in Cote d'Ivoire and we all thought Gbagbo would be extending his term...yet again? Well it seems that he aimed to prove us all wrong yesterday. On Sunday October 31st...something scary happened...an election took place with 13...yes 13 Presidential candidates. Many of you remember that reforms were taking place to make sure that the voters and the candidates were of Ivorian decent due to claims about many of the candidates not being of Ivorian decent...some were from Burkina Faso, and they had to be taken off the list. If you remember, the main political contender against Gbagbo in 2000 was found to not even be Ivorian thus causing Gbagbo to take office and hang on to the reins for 10 very long years. It is said that Gbagbo was greeted to a heroes welcome by many voters. Wether or not this means he was popular.....we don't know. Was intimidation used to cause this? hmmmmmm. According to the New York Times many of those cheering for Gbagbo were intoxicated and we all know what that means. However, BBC Africa maintains that the elections were "peaceful"....riiiight. Of course there were the normal third world issues like polling stations opening late..blah blah blah. All I know is, this is going to be a very very close race and of course...I'll be watching (POPCORN PLEASE!!)