While I am blogging on international things, there was an NPR story this morning about this weekend’s election in the Congo. As the NPR text accompanying the story notes:

Twenty-five million Congolese are registered to vote. With no functioning road or rail network, it’s been a feat ferrying election material to the polling stations.

Congo’s Elections’ Commission spokesman, Dieudonne Mirimo Mulongo, says voting equipment has been airlifted and delivered by road, by river, on canoes, bicycle and on foot all over Congo.

The Electoral Commission has the help of a massive U.N. peacekeeping operation. The historic polls are costing the international community more than $400 million.