Today is the end of the campaign to withdraw ballot papers, while the first round of the presidential election is scheduled for less than a week. Nearly 7.5 million citizens are registered on the electoral rolls. A record number. But since the call for civil disobedience and an active boycott launched by the opposition and the violence that killed 16 people in Dabou in particular, the withdrawal of cards has slowed in some areas of the country. This may affect the number of participants in the vote.
as reported from Abidjan, Sidi Yansane
Last month, Independent Electoral Commission spokesman Emile Ebrottié welcomed a 13% increase in the number of voters registered on the lists. But since the slogan of active boycott of the opposition, and the violent and sometimes deadly events of the last few weeks make one feel less.
For the CIS, this slowdown remains marginal and limited to areas considered sensitive. She had already extended the deadline for card withdrawals, then centralized their distribution in a few more secure locations, such as gendarmerie and police stations.
The platform for civil society organizations to observe elections in Côte d’Ivoire also notes a slowdown in the recovery of sesame, with the exception of the northern part of the territory. Its coordinator Drissa Soulama believes that populations remain traumatized by past violence and fear retaliation.
For their part, sources within international observation missions also note a lower withdrawal, but it is difficult to measure whether it is the recent violence that discourages or simply the opposition activists who respect the instruction not to participate in treatment.
For observers, turnout may be affected. But CEI spokesman Emile Ebrottié is confident, specifying that the cards are waiting for voters in their polling station on D-Day and that the national identity card will be accepted if necessary.
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