VZCZCXRO5190
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS RUEHPA
DE RUEHNK #0569/01 1351908
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151908Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5484
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0258
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0297
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0449
RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 0261
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0210

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR EAID KPAO MR
SUBJECT: MORE VOTERS TO BE ABLE TO REGISTER BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL 
ELECTIONS IN MARCH 2007 
 
Ref: Nouakchott 409 
 
Classified by Amb. Joseph LeBaron, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) 
 
-------------- 
(C) Key Points 
-------------- 
 
-- Voters who failed to register during the recent registration 
campaign will have another opportunity to register in January 2007, in 
time for the March 2007 presidential election, according to 
Mauritania's Independent Electoral Commission. 
 
-- So far, nearly one million Mauritanians have registered to vote. 
The government asserts that this represents 96% of all eligible voters, 
with fewer than 40,000 left to register. 
 
-- However, a closer look at their figures suggests the number left to 
register might be closer to 150,000.  And that higher number does not 
include the unknown number of Mauritanians who don't have National ID 
cards. 
 
-- An Electoral Commission member acknowledged that problems remain in 
applying for National ID cards required for voter registration 
(reftel). 
 
-- All that said, the national voter list, even if incomplete at this 
stage, appears to be virtually fraud-free.  Those names on the list are 
the true names of legitimate voters; a significant achievement, given 
Mauritania's electoral history. 
 
-- The UN System Coordinator said that a team of UN auditors would 
arrive in June to assess the census process. 
She has told Ambassador that she expects the auditors to find that the 
census process meets international standards. 
 
------------ 
(C) Comments 
------------ 
 
-- It would have been even better if Mauritanian voters who missed -- 
or were denied -- the opportunity to register could register before the 
Parliamentary elections this Fall.  Embassy will keep up the pressure 
on the government to re-open lists prior to the November municipal and 
Parliamentary elections. 
 
-- Remarkably, there is no evidence that ineligible voters have been 
placed on the voter lists, a problem that repeatedly plagued past 
elections. 
 
-- The transition to democracy underway in Mauritania is far from 
perfect, but the problems of which we are aware (reftel) do not suggest 
to us that the international community should withdraw its support for 
the process. 
 
End Key Points and Comments. 
 
¶1. (C) Representatives from the Ministry of Interior, National Office 
of Statistics, National Independent Electoral Commission, UN Electoral 
Assistance team, NDI, and various international partners met May 5 to 
discuss the census and voter registration drive which ended April 30 
after two and a half months. 
 
-------------------- 
Registration Figures 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Director General of the National Office of Statistics and 
National Coordinator for the Census and Voter Registration Baba Ould 
Boumein reported that 1,013,427 Mauritanians had been registered out of 
an estimated 1,053,424 eligible voters, declaring that the list was 
therefore 96 pct complete.  He then said that 18,477 of those 
registered were found to be duplicate registrations, so the final 
figure would in fact be 994,950 total registered voters. 
 
¶3. (C) The estimate of 1,053,424 total eligible Mauritanian voters is 
derived from the 1,313,424 National ID cards that have been issued 
since 2000 (when Mauritania began issuing their current ID cards).  The 
National Office of Statistics then subtracted 35,000 to account for 
deaths (based on mortality rates rather than civil documents), 135,000 
to account for those Mauritanians who have left Mauritania (no 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000569  002 OF 002 
 
 
methodology for this number was offered), and 90,000 to account for 
those that for various reasons do not currently have their ID cards 
(such as people whose cards were lost or destroyed). 
 
¶4. (C) Meeting participants questioned the elimination of these 90,000 
eligible voters and called for the figure to be added back into the 
total number of eligible voters.  If these 90,000 are included, then 
according to Ministry of Interior figures, the census and registration 
drive has registered 87 pct of all eligible voters (rather than the 96 
percent that Boumein  had originally presented) as there are a total of 
150,000 still to be registered. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Assessment of the census process 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Secretary General of the National Independent Electoral 
Commission Ahmed Ould Lefghih praised the government's registration 
efforts, adding that "these efforts should be continued to allow other 
registrants to be added to the voter lists in January." 
 
¶6. (C) However, Electoral Commission board member Ely Ould Allaf said 
the Ministry of Interior's figures were problematic in that they only 
counted those Mauritanians with ID cards, and "excluded those that had 
requested cards but not received them."  While praising government 
efforts so far, he criticized the slowness of the authorities to 
adjudicate claims for ID cards, and the lack of responsiveness to 
requests for ID card application data.  He hoped that the Electoral 
Commission would be able to report soon on the numbers of pending 
cases, but noted that approximately 20 percent of citizens in the 
eastern Tagant region did not have the required cards.  He encouraged 
the government to continue issuing cards so more people could register 
in January. 
 
¶7. (C) Ministry of Interior official Sidi Yeslem Ould Amar Chein said 
"the government has taken every effort to ensure a transparent 
process," adding that "what problems we have seen have come from the 
existing government structure and not the Census and voter registration 
process." He pointed out that many Mauritanians, especially those who 
live in rural villages, have never needed ID cards, which are normally 
needed for salaried employment, schooling or travel. 
 
¶8. (C) In a session among partners immediately following the meeting, 
all recommended to keep pressure on the government to re-open lists 
prior to the November municipal and legislative elections.  UN 
Principal Technical Advisor Mathieu Bile Bouah believed that if the 
government re-opened census offices for just two weeks, it would allow 
enough time for the rest of the eligible voters who obtain ID cards in 
the coming months to register. 
 
¶9. (C) Bouah said the UN was still waiting for the government to 
provide a public financing scheme for political parties, the 
determination of a voting method (proportional representation v. 
winner-take-all), and the system for ensuring 20 percent female 
participation in the coming parliament.  Lefghih joined Bouah in 
stressing the need for the government to begin its education outreach 
to voters for the November Constitutional Referendum. 
LeBaron