VOA标准英语2009年-Ivory Coast to Release Voter Lists for Pre

By Anne Look
Dakar
29 September 2009

Ivory Coast announced that it will release provisional voter lists Thursday for the country's long-delayed presidential elections, now scheduled for November.

With just two months before the presidential poll, the Ivorian government has announced that the provisional voter list is ready and will be submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission, government leaders and political parties on Thursday.

The vote, which has been postponed¹ several times since 2005, is an attempt to find a lasting² political solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the once stable West African nation. When the country missed a September 15 deadline for publishing the voter list, many feared that setback³ would once again delay the vote.

 
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, addresses the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, 25 Sept 2009
 
But in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly Friday, Ivorian president Laurent Gbabgo confirmed that the elections would take place as planned on November 29.

Mr. Gbagbo says that thanks to the support of the international community, and in particular thanks to the work and desire for peace of his fellow Ivorians, the electoral process has entered an irreversible phase. He says there is no longer any political obstacle to holding the elections.

Financial problems and voter registration⁴ issues, particularly issues of nationality and voter eligibility⁵, have already prompted Ivory Coast to push back the election several times since current President Gbagbo's mandate⁶ ran out in October 2005.

Civil war cut the nation in half in 2002, after rebels attempting to overthrow⁷ President Gbagbo took control of the northern part of the country. Thousands were killed in the conflict, and the country, though now at peace, remains⁸ tense and fractured. The country has since missed deadlines for presidential elections set by the peace accords of 2007 and late 2008 that appointed rebel leader Guillaume Soro as prime minister in a power-sharing agreement.

The provisional voter list was originally scheduled for publication in late August, but processing registration data for the country's some 6.5 million identified voters proved time-consuming. Prime Minister Soro has insisted, though, that confirming the validity of voter applications is integral in ensuring the success of the election.

Former Ivorian President Henri Konan Bédié, who is a candidate in the upcoming election, says the vote can still take place on November 29.

Bédié says although they can't exactly get back the time lost as a result of these technical delays, other steps in the process can be accelerated to ensure that the vote happens on schedule.

Once published, the provisional lists will have to be agreed upon by all political parties before ballots⁹ are printed. Bédié says that though this is an essential step, the length of this review period should be limited. Allowing it to drag on, as other parts of the process already have, would just provide another excuse to push back the poll date.

Yet, the publication of the voter list, though a crucial step, is not the only obstacle remaining. The disarmament of the country's former rebel factions¹⁰, set to be completed two months before the vote, is also reported to be behind schedule.

Though election officials are still working toward a November 29 poll, observers fear there is still too much work to be done and scrambling¹¹ to make the deadline could result in a flawed vote. 

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

4 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

5 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

11 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》