Worldfocus

Puerto Ricans celebrate the Nov. 4 election.

Though the U.S. election is dominating headlines, screens and airwaves across the nation, several other countries are also going to the polls.

American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, Palau and Guam held elections on Nov. 4.

The “Memoires from the Middle of the Ocean” blog writes about the openness of elections in Palau and the vibrant campaigns.

Puerto Rico also held parliamentary elections on Nov. 4.

The “Petchie’s Adventures” blog outlines the different political parties and issues at stake.

A blogger at the “El Jibaro Gringo” blog describes his experience voting. Watch a video of Puerto Rican election events here.

Zambia elected Rupiah Banda of the ruling party to replace the deceased president, Levy Mwanawasa. The Oct. 30 election was tight, as opposition leader Michael Sata lost by less than two percent.

However, as blogger “Percymwale” writes, questions remain about the integrity of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the group in charge of monitoring the election.

Maldives recently completed a runoff election that unseated 30-year incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. See our previous Blogwatch on the election here.

Several other nations will elect leaders in the coming weeks:

New Zealand will hold its parliamentary election this weekend.

The “4:20 a.m.” blog compares the New Zealand and American elections.

Guinea-Bissau will hold parliamentary elections on Nov. 16.

Blogger “Andrew” writes about world involvement and interest in the election, including the role of the United Nations. See an example ballot from the country here.

Romania will hold elections on Nov. 28, with as many as 2,965 candidates running for a seat in parliament.

Two of those candidates have their own blog, which blogger “Violet” describes in English.

Several west African countries, including the Ivory Coast and Guinea, may delay elections that had been planned for November due to reliability issues.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user abnelphoto.com under a Creative Commons license.