Election Day

If the roads are closed to almost all traffic and the sale of alcohol illegal, it must be election day in Bolivia.

Today is the culmination of at least a year (but maybe 180?) of political unheaval in Bolivia, which is voting to elect its fourth president in just over two years. With the help of a handy "permiso" from the electoral court, I was up in El Alto, the sprawling city of one million that overlooks La Paz, this morning to get a sense of the scene at polling stations there.

If the latest polls are right, the next president could very well be Evo Morales, a leftist Aymara leader who built his career in the country's powerful coca unions. Considering that Morales wants to legalize coca - the main ingredient in cocaine - it'll be fun to see how Evo and the U.S. figure out their relationship after he takes office in late January.

For the time being, I have two brief preview pieces on the election. The first, at Time.com, can be accessed here.

The second, for the Christian Science Monitor, is here.

I'll be back soon with the initial election results.