A few weeks ago we drew attention to some significant reforms to the electoral law in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular counting the votes before the election, thus hastening the speed with which the result would be known. This, of course, was built on earlier reforms where the Athens of Africa had improved the democratic process by having more completed ballot papers than voters; reducing the confusion of too many political parties by banning them; and avoiding the further confusion of too many opposition candidates by executing those who had not gone into exile.