IDENTIFICATION/VOTER REGISTRATION EXTENDED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000175

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV EAID KDEM PREL SOCI IV
SUBJECT: IDENTIFICATION/VOTER REGISTRATION EXTENDED

REF: A. ABIDJAN 71

B. ABIDJAN 66

Classified By: PolEcon Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (SBU) Summary. The identification/voter registration
process has been extended until March 30 in some regions and
until early April for those persons affected by the
reconstitution of civil registries. Identification/voter
registration of Ivoirians living in 19 foreign countries
began on March 15. Despite political parties' allegations of
fraud, Carter Center teams monitoring the process found
little evidence of this on the ground. However, Carter
Center representatives expressed concerns about the slow
movement to set a new date for elections. End Summary.


2. (U) The Prime Minister's Office and the Independent
Electoral Commission (CEI) issued a joint statement on March
15 informing Ivoirians that the identification/voter
registration process would be extended in certain locations
by 7 to 15 days from March 15 in order to give each Ivoirian
the opportunity to obtain a national identity card and
participate in the next election. The process will be
extended by 15 days in the 850 registration centers located
nationwide that have not yet become operational. The process
will be extended by 7 days in villages where the process
began but was not completed. In cities and urban districts
where the process is ongoing, local CEI officials and
representatives of other agencies involved in the process
will select 2 teams that will work for 15 days.


3. (SBU) As part of a project financed by the Governments of
the United States and the United Kingdom, the Carter Center
has deployed teams throughout the country to observe the
identification/voter registration process (Reftel B). Carter
Center Cote d'Ivoire representative Sabina Vigani told the
Ambassador on March 10 that prosecutors have informed Carter
Center teams that there have been few cases of fraud despite
political parties' accusations to the contrary. Vigani did
note that in the western areas of the country members of
student group FESCI and the Young Patriots militia have been
accusing persons attempting to register to vote of being
foreigners.


4. (U) Identification/voter registration of Ivoirians living
overseas began on March 15. The CEI will deploy teams to 19
countries to register a total of approximately 68,000
Ivoirians. Selection criteria was reportedly those countries
with the largest populations of expatriate Ivoirians. The
countries are: Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Denmark,
France, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Italy, Mali, Morocco,
Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. In the United States,
Ivoirians will be able to register to vote in three
locations: Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC.


5. (SBU) Once the identification/voter registration process
is finished, a preliminary voters' list will be published.
Members of the international community have told Emboff that
the list could be ready around July if the current deadlines
for the identification process are respected. Before its
publication, however, the names on the list are to be
cross-checked with existing national records. No agreement
has yet been reached on what records will be consulted.
Given the sensitivities regarding nationality, it will be no
easy task to have all political parties reach consensus on
this issue and a delay in the publication of the list is
possible.


6. (C) Many in the international community have been critical
of the decision to register Ivoirians overseas because of the
cost involved. In fact, the CEI's priorities are a recurrent
source of friction with donors. A member of the EU Mission
told Emboff that the EU has not disbursed funding available
for the identification process because the CEI wants to use
it for salaries, per diem, and vehicles for its headquarters
staff while CEI local staff throughout the country have not
been paid in months. According to the EU diplomat, French
company Sagem, which will produce the identification and
voter registration cards, makes payments (presumably to cover
staff salaries and operating costs on the ground) to an
Ivoirian company owned by Ibrahima Ba, who is in charge of
the Working Group on Identification at the Prime Minister's
Office. The EU diplomat alleged that only a small portion of
Sagem's funds are then passed on to the field.


7. (C) The Carter Center remains concerned by the delays in
establishing a new date for elections as reported in reftel

B. Vigani told the Ambassador that the Carter Center is
considering sending a high-level delegation to meet with
Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore in his capacity as
Facilitator of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA) to
discuss what actions he believes would be helpful to move the

ABIDJAN 00000175 002 OF 002


process forward. Ambassador told Vigani that Embassy is also
concerned about the repeated delays in the election process
and would be happy to work with the Carter Center (to the
extent possible) to push things forward.


NESBITT