See the chaotic scenes as Kenya elects new president
Nairobi/Nairobi, Kenya, Jun 28, 2013 / 02:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The first thing you would expect to see on the presidential ballot line at a polling station in Kenya is the presidential vote.
But, it’s not always as easy to find as you might think.
I found myself standing on the sidewalk outside a polling station in Uhuru Park in Nairobi, a city some 30 minutes outside of the capital of Nairobi, waiting to cast my vote on a busy Saturday afternoon.
I felt the strong smell of the burning plant waste as I stood there, and began to feel overwhelmed. There was no point in standing here, I thought. I had already gone in, and the same vote must have been cast.
I looked all around for a sign that said this was a polling station, but saw none. It would have been a simple thing to find one.
A woman came out of the building and told me to vote. I asked why, and she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Because God commands it.”
She led me into a building and took me to a seat at the table where I would write my name on a little card. She came back outside and told me to write my name on a paper.
I didn’t take the paper, because I wasn’t sure if I even needed one. I just felt like I should go ahead and vote at this point.
She came back out and told me that I needed to write my name on the little sign. I decided to do so anyway. I walked over to the table where I could write my name, and was instructed to sit down just at the other side of the table and take the card with my picture on it.
I walked back over to the other table and asked her why she had come back out and told me to vote at the table where I wasn’t allowed. She said, “Your friends won’t think you are eligible to cast a ballot.