This Sunday, the Burkinabè are called to the polls to elect both their new president and their new deputies. And while there are only a few hours left before the opening of the polling stations ...

Elections in Burkina Faso: in Ougadougou, the race for the final preparations

At the town hall of the 4th arrondissement of Ouagadougou, the ballot boxes for the November 22 ballot are waiting to be sent to the polling centers, Burkina Faso, November 21, 2020 © Paulina Zidi / RFI

Text by: Paulina Zidi Follow

4 min

This Sunday, the Burkinabè are called to the polls to elect both their new president and their new deputies.

And while there are only a few hours left before the opening of the polling stations, Ouagadougou, the capital, is keeping pace with the latest preparations.

Publicity

With our special correspondent in Ouagadougou,

At the town hall of the 4th arrondissement of Ouagadougou, it is the effervescence in this late afternoon this Saturday.

There are people everywhere, in the alleys, on the lawns, gathered in small groups.

The reason for all this commotion:

election materials

Indeed, as in most city halls of the capital and the country, the teams responsible for holding the polling centers this Sunday collect the ballots, the ballot boxes and everything they need to ensure the smooth running of the double ballot.

Dieudonné has been waiting since the beginning of the afternoon.

We still lack the voting booths,

" explains the president of the borough's largest polling station.

At his feet, exactly 617 well-wrapped ballots for the presidential election and as many for the legislative elections.

Ballots that will then have to be counted after closing on Sunday evening.

“In

other words, tomorrow will be a long day,

” he sighs.

The tabulation sheets are already ready for Sunday evening, Burkina Faso, November 21, 2020 © Paulina Zidi / RFI

That of this Saturday takes the same path.

As night is already setting in Ouagadougou, Yacouba, another office manager, is a little disillusioned.

He has been there since 8 am and his equipment arrives in dribbles.

On his check sheet, there are still plenty of boxes that are not checked.

It is the first time that he has tried his hand at the exercise of polling station president and he wants to do it seriously, even if it means spending a large part of the night there.

A safe escort

And once the material is well checked, the work does not end there.

Then everything must be sent to the electoral center.

This is what Mushira is about to do.

Her list now complete, the young woman awaits her armed escort with her colleagues.

Each team of officials must in fact be accompanied by several security forces.

Sitting on a motorbike, a young woman in military fatigues is one of the soldiers mobilized

to secure the ballot

He looks forward to taking up his post.

Its mission will be to watch all night on the precious electoral material and especially on the still empty ballot boxes.

At the town hall of the 4th arrondissement of Ouagadougou, the teams check that the electoral material is complete, Burkina Faso, November 21, 2020 © Paulina Zidi / RFI

Once everything is properly installed, the polling officials will go to take a few hours of sleep just to recharge their batteries.

Appointment made at six o'clock local time this Sunday to welcome the very first morning voters.

The excitement at the town hall of the 4th arrondissement of Ouagadougou where the polling station officials collect the electoral material for the presidential and legislative elections this Sunday ... #BurkinaFaso # BurkinaVote2020 @rfi @RFIAfrique pic.twitter.com/CmlmwRKhzU

Elections in Burkina Faso: in Ougadougou, the race for the final preparations

Elections in Burkina Faso: in Ougadougou, the race for the final preparations

A safe escort

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