CEI SAYS VOTER REGISTRATION WILL BEGIN SEPTEMBER 15

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000611 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM IV SUBJECT: CEI SAYS VOTER REGISTRATION WILL BEGIN SEPTEMBER 15 REF: A. ABIDJAN 604 ¶B. ABIDJAN 595 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. President of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) Robert Mambe told Ambassador that the identification and voter registration processes will begin September 15. Although not all 11,000 sites are ready, operations will begin in those sites that are and commence in others as they become ready to be used. Mambe said all the material needed by technical operator Sagem has arrived. Mambe explained that identification and voter registration will last until the end of October and publication of the final electoral list is scheduled for November 15. The commencement of identification and voter registration makes it more likely that elections could be held in 2008, even if the November 30 date is not observed. End Summary. Starting Process September 15 -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a September 5 meeting, CEI President Mambe told Ambassador that the identification and voter registration processes will begin September 15 even if all the 11,000 designated sites are not ready by that date. Mambe explained that operations will start in the sites that are ready and will commence in additional sites as they become ready. According to Mambe, most sites need only minor work to be usable. Mambe said all the material needed by technical operator Sagem to begin work (6,300 kits) has arrived in Abidjan. Mambe attributed the delay in the commencement of identification and registration to difficulties encountered regarding the transportation of this material. He acknowledged that the equipment needed to print the identification and electoral cards has not yet arrived in Cote d'Ivoire. ¶3. (SBU) Mambe explained that a total of 35,000 staff will be needed to conduct the identification and voter registration process. The CEI will recruit 17,000 of them and has already pre-selected 25,000 potential candidates. All 25,000 candidates will be trained next week and, based on results of tests that will be administered after the training, a final selection will be made. Election Timeline -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Mambe explained that the identification and voter registration process will last until the end of October. The final electoral list is scheduled as of now to be published on November 15, which means the official campaign period could only last 15 days. Mambe noted that this timeframe might be compromised if there are a large number of challenges regarding the citizenship of persons on the electoral list. Mambe said if it seems that the number of challenges cannot be resolved in the time available, the CEI will engage in discussions with all concerned parties and the international community regarding postponement of the November 30 date. The 2000 electoral list forms the basis of the new list. Mambe explained that challenges can only regard new voters (those who were 18 in 2000, but did not register and those who turned 18 since 2000) since all persons on the 2000 list will be considered Ivorian. ¶5. (SBU) Mambe noted that, according to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, once the final electoral list is published, the Council of Ministers must adopt a decree authorizing the issuance of new identification cards to all persons whose names appear on the final electoral list. ¶6. (SBU) Comment. The commencement on September 15 of identification of the population and voter registration makes it more likely that elections could be held in 2008, even if the November 30 date is not observed. Starting the process in some sites and then expanding it to all 11,000 designated sites resembles the process employed by the government for the "audiences foraines" (mobile courts that issued birth documentation). The "audiences foraines" teams were not all deployed at the same time, but sequentially; the operation was not perfect, but it was a success and accepted by all political parties. NESBITT