Generally speaking, a delay in holding an African election is a portent of bad things to come. And this seeming truism might hold with regard to Cote d’Ivoir, where leaders have announced that the approaching elections, scheduled for November 30, will be delayed. The rationale behind the delay, however, seems reasonable and sound: Simply put, the country is not prepared. And running a bad election, or running an election badly, can be more catastrophic than a delay, especially one that has been expected for a while and for which people should be reasonably prepared. Furthermore, the same political leaders asking for a delay have also asked for the election to be held before December 31, so in this case democratic processes delayed will not be democratic processes denied.
