Voter registration

Almost every election in Africa brings accusations that people have been registered to vote who are not entitled to do so – and in some cases these accusations relate to entire communities or ethnic groups and not just individual errors or cases of fraud. In Côte d’Ivoire, those whose nationality has been questioned have notoriously also been referred to as “betail electoral” (“electoral cattle”); but the same accusation is present in many other countries. Reliable voter registration depends on clarity and non-discrimination in the law and on reliable identification.