VOA标准英语2008年-Massive Voter Turnout in Angola Legislative Ele

Voters in Angola went to the polls Friday to elect a new parliament, in the country's first elections in 16 years. Turnout was massive, but numerous irregularities and technical problems were reported. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Luanda.
　
Angolans queue outside electoral tents as voting is delayed due to technical problems, Samba neighborhood in Luanda, 05 Sep 2008

Angolans turned out to vote early Friday forming long lines before dawn outside the country's 14,000 voting stations.

Maria Adao Pedro de Souza, an elderly mother of eight, says she woke up at five o'clock to be the first to cast her ballot¹ at her polling center on a dusty street in the Kiambo Kiaxi district of northern Luanda.

She says the voting went well. It was well organized and went better than the first time in 1992.

Law student Izau Lourenco says he came early to exercise his civil right.

He says the new government needs to give priority to education and health because there are not enough schools and hospitals in the country. And he says it must show progress in these areas quickly because there will be new elections in four years.

However, the polling did not go smoothly² everywhere. In many outlying areas of Luanda, polling places opened hours late because they lacked ballot papers, voter registration³ lists or ballot boxes.

As the sun rose higher and the intensified⁴, shoemaker Joao Paulo became angry after waiting several hours to cast his ballot at a polling only a few hundred meters away.

He says things are going badly here. We have been waiting a long time. They promised to open at seven o'clock. We have been here since 5:30 and nothing is happening.

The National Electoral Commission later took responsibility for the delays and by midday most polling places were operational. But as the day drew to a close many voters, particularly in outlying areas of Luanda, were seen still milling around some polling places, unable to vote because these had run out of ballot papers.
　
An old Angolan woman casts her ballot in the popular neighborhood of Samba, 05 Sep 2008

Independent observer groups confirmed the problems and one of them by the end of the day had recorded more than 200 irregularities, mostly due to technical problems. Few incidents of violence were reported.

A network of 2,500 Angolan observers, called Plataforma, protested after most of its 350 observers in populous⁵ Luanda Province were denied accreditation⁶ and some 100 observers in Huambo province, another hotly contested area, were only given credentials⁷ at the last minute.

National Coordinator⁸, Onesimo Setacula told VOA he was shocked because his group had worked with the National Electoral Commission during the voter registration process.

He says this appears to a deliberate effort to muzzle⁹ an impartial¹⁰, non-political voice that was entering the electoral process for the first time.

The Angolan government spent millions of dollars registering voters and funding the campaign. It is hoping the elections will put to rest the legacy¹¹ of more than four decades of conflict, including a lengthy¹² struggle for independence and a 27-year civil war.

More than 5,000 candidates competed for 220 seats in the legislative¹³ body.

The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) hopes to win a two-thirds majority that would allow it to change the Angolan constitution without opposition¹⁴ support.

But the main opposition party, the Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA), hopes to gain seats by campaigning for change after three decades of MPLA political domination. Twelve smaller parties campaigned on similar platforms.

The government pledged a level playing field for all candidates and each was granted five minutes nightly on national television during the campaign. But opposition politicians and human rights groups said the government used its patronage¹⁵ and resources to dominate the campaign.

The vote is seen as a first test in anticipation¹⁶ of presidential elections next year.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

3 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？

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

6 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

7 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

8 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

9 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

10 impartial   

adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的

参考例句：

• He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
• Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。

11 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

12 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

13 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

16 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。