VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe Election Commission Begins Announcing

By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
31 March 2008

Zimbabwe's electoral commission has begun releasing official results from the nation's presidential and legislative¹ elections. The announcement of the preliminary tallies², showing the ruling and main opposition³ parties winning 12 parliamentary seats each, came a day after election officials authenticated⁴ the count. Peta Thornycroft reports from the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

Some independent election officials say the delay in announcing the results was unnecessary and as a result the electorate⁵ is questioning the process. In previous elections, announcements were immediately released to national radio and television for broadcast.

The same officials say the delay has led to tensions in urban areas.

Riot police moved into deserted⁶ Harare Sunday night about six hours before the first results were announced. And the U.S. Embassy in Harare said the uncertain political situation had raised the potential for violence across the country. The embassy issued a warning to Americans in the country to move to safe locations.

The head of the Zimbabwe Election Commission, George Chiweshe, told reporters clamoring for results that the tabulation⁷ process was taking much longer than in the past because four elections took place simultaneously⁸.

"I don't know," he said. "These are four elections. We have never held four elections before."

In a balloting⁹ that was largely peaceful Saturday voters chose a president, national assembly, senate and local councils.

A leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, David Coltart, said the result for the senate seat in his Matabeleland constituency, which he won, was certified¹⁰ as accurate by the Election Commission midday Sunday.

Many other results have also been certified by election officials, especially in urban areas, but they have not been released yet to the public.

The MDC says it has kept a close record of votes cast as reported by its monitors at the 95-hundred polling stations.

Before results started coming out, MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said late Sunday that Morgan Tsvangirai had scored about 55-percent of the vote in the presidential poll.

"We are aware that the results are final in most of the constituencies and it appears that the regime is at a loss vis-à-vis how to respond and therefore it is taking its time deliberately," said Biti.

But the Election Commission warned the M.D.C. not to be provocative¹¹ by claiming victory ahead of the official results.

ZANU-PF election head Elliot Manyika predicted late Sunday that President Robert Mugabe had won a sixth term in office. He said in a telephone interview that ZANU-PF was poised¹² for victory in all four elections.

There were three candidates in the presidential election, Mr. Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and former finance minister Simba Makoni. The winner must have an absolute majority of 51% or face a run off in twenty one days.

1 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。

2 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 authenticated   

v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效

参考例句：

• The letter has been authenticated by handwriting experts. 这封信已由笔迹专家证明是真的。
• The date of manufacture of the jewellery has not been authenticated. 这些珠宝的制造日期尚未经证实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

6 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

7 tabulation   

作表，表格； 表列结果； 列表； 造表

参考例句：

• A tabulation of a function of two variables is cumbersome, but possible. 二元函数的列表法是不方便的，然而是可能的。
• Such a tabulation cannot represent adequately the complex gradation relationships between the types. 这样的图表不能充分代表各类型之间的复杂级配关系。

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

9 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句

10 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

11 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

12 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。