Burundi: Electoral process ends with local poll

Burundi's electoral process for 2005 ended on Friday with elections for local heads of villages. The country's electoral calendar began in February with a referendum on the post-transition constitution during which an overwhelming majority voted for the draft document. The head of the National Electoral Commission, Paul Ngarambe, said voters went to polling stations countrywide on Friday to elect 14,560 local leaders out of 44,724 candidates who were all contesting as independent candidates. The voting marked the first village-level elections in the country's history.