The President run-off vote in the Republic of Côte D’Ivoire will see former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo go head-to-head.
Former President Henri Konan Bedie was third in the election, seeing him discounted from the final race. However, many of the opposition parties and leaders, including Mr Bedie, have banded togather to support the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.
President Laurent Gbagbo has been in power for ten years. He was elected to power following the dismantling of a military coup. Before that, Henri Konan Bedie was President for four years. Alassane Ouattara was excluded from both of these previous elections owing to questions over his nationality. Ouattara was Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993 and served before that time as an economist with the IMF.
In This Story: Cote D'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d’Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, is a country located on the south coast of West Africa. Ivory Coast’s political capital is Yamoussoukro in the center of the country, while its economic capital and largest city is the port city of Abidjan.
It borders Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) to the south.
The official language of the republic is French, with local indigenous languages also being widely used that include Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo. In total, there are around 78 different languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The country has large populations of adherents of Christianity, Islam and various indigenous religions.
Before its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire and Baoulé. The area became a protectorate of France in 1843 and achieved independence in 1960.
In This Story: Vote
Voting is a method for a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, in order to make a collective decision or express an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holders of high office by voting. Residents of a place represented by an elected official are called “constituents”, and those constituents who cast a ballot for their chosen candidate are called “voters”. There are different systems for collecting votes, but while many of the systems used in decision-making can also be used as electoral systems, any which cater for proportional representation can only be used in elections.
In smaller organizations, voting can occur in different ways. Formally via ballot to elect others for example within a workplace, to elect members of political associations or to choose roles for others. Informally voting could occur as a spoken agreement or as a verbal gesture like a raised hand or electronically.
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