STATUS OF ELECTORAL PREPARATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000486

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2018
TAGS: KDEM PGOV IV
SUBJECT: STATUS OF ELECTORAL PREPARATIONS

REF: ABIDJAN 337

Classified By: Pol/Econ Section Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d
).


1. (SBU) The Government of Cote d'Ivoire has made some
progress on its preparations for the presidential election
scheduled for November 30. However, much work remains to be
done. Many Ivoirians, as well as members of the
international community, are beginning to question whether
the government will be able to adhere to the November 30 date
due to technical delays. This message reviews the status of
preparations as of mid-July. End Summary.

Birth Documentation
--------------


2. (U) The Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA) provides
that in order to register to vote, Ivoirians must present a
birth certificate or a declaratory judgment ("jugement
suppletif"). Since many lack such documentation, the OPA
provided for the "audiences foraines," mobile tribunals
issuing declaratory judgments to persons over the age of 13
whose birth had never been registered. The "audiences
foraines" process lasted from September 25, 2007 to May 15,

2008. In general, the system functioned well and was
accepted by all political parties. The Ministry of Justice
will send out 50 additional mobile courts that will each work
for a period of 15 days in locations that were not adequately
covered and which will be determined based on recommendations
from local officials. The Ministry of Justice told Embassy
on July 18 that no date has yet been set for the deployment
of these 50 tribunals.


3. (U) The OPA provides that concurrently with the "audiences
foraines," destroyed or lost civil registries will be
reconstituted so that persons who had birth certificates but
lost them can obtain replacements. This process began the
week of May 19, 2008 and is scheduled to be completed by the
beginning of October.


Staff
--------------


4. (C) According to the Independent Electoral Commission
(CEI),392 out of a total of 415 local CEI offices have been
established and are staffed. A United Nations Operation in
Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) officer told Poloff that UNOCI provided
the transport necessary to make this happen. A staff of
35,000 is needed to conduct identification/voter registration
(17,000 to be recruited by CEI; 6,000 by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS); 6,000 by Sagem, and 6,000 by
the National Office of Identification (ONI)). CEI Permanent
Secretary Auguste Miremont told Poloff July 21 that the
selection of this personnel is ongoing and should be
completed by the first week of August. In addition, 66,000
persons must be hired to staff the polling stations. When
Poloff asked Miremont when the hiring of that personnel would
begin, he responded that one "shouldn't put the cart before
the horse."

Sites
--------------


5. (C) Eleven thousand voter registration stations (that
will also serve as polling sites) must be set up throughout
the country as well as 70 "coordination centers" where the
results of the data gathered at the 11,000 sites will be
pulled together. In addition, 1 central site needs to be
established to compile the data from the 70 coordination
centers. None of the 70 coordination center sites are ready
and neither is the central site; however, Miremont told
Poloff that rehabilitation of the sites is underway. (Note:
During a recent visit to Bouake, DCM raised issue of voting
locations and readiness with UNOCI officials. UNOCI election
officer commented that the sites included not only schools,
but also prisons and residences of village chiefs, remarking
that many of these were inappropriate. He added that these
were many of the same sites used in the 2000 election. End
Note.) A Sagem representative told Poloff that Sagem
provided CEI with a 200-page report the week of July 4 laying
out the rehabilitation measures that need to be carried out
at each site to allow Sagem to begin its work. According to
Sagem, CEI agreed to a UNOCI offer to rehabilitate the
central site. Miremont confirmed UNOCI's offer, but added
that he believed the government would have to finance the
rehabilitation of the other locations.

Sagem Remains Handicapped
--------------


ABIDJAN 00000486 002 OF 002



6. (C) It is troubling that Sagem has yet to begin its real
work. It still has not imported the necessary equipment
("kits") because it has no secure facilities in which to
store them due to the unavailability of the sites. The Sagem
representative commented that Sagem cannot train staff if it
has no location in which to conduct the training, explaining
that it planned to use the central site for this purpose.
Further, the Ivorian Government owes Sagem an outstanding
payment of USD 114 million (47 billion CFA),although Sagem
is not waiting for this final payment to start its work.

Voter Cards and Ballots
--------------


7. (U) Comment. The delay in the commencement of the voter
registration process raises the question of whether the CEI
will be able to publish the draft electoral list by the
August 30 date required by the electoral code. The voter
registration cards, estimated to number about 8 to 9 million,
also need to be printed up and distributed by CEI and the
electoral material needs to be transported to all 22,000
voting stations. There is also much discord over the security
situation and people's ability to vote - especially in
certain "hot spots" - without feeling threatened. End
Comment.
AKUETTEH