VOA标准英语2009-Namibian Electoral Commission Under Fire fro

Voter lists for weekend elections strongly challenged as inaccurate¹

Joe DeCapua | Washington, DC 25 November 2009

Namibian National Society for Human Rights

Namibia holds national elections Friday and Saturday, when voters will choose a president and members of parliament.

President Hifikepunye Pohamba and the ruling SWAPO party are heavily favored.  Thirteen opposition² parties are challenging SWAPO.
   
But the elections are not being conducted on a level playing field, according to the Namibian National Society for Human Rights.  Phil ya Nangoloh, head of the group, says, “The Namibians are ready to go to vote….  Whether the electoral commission…is ready, that’s another question.”
   
The commission is ill prepared for the election, says Ya Nangoloh.  It is “required to act only in one way – in a fair and impartial³ manner, but the evidence at our disposal is to the contrary.”
   

Voter lists challenged
   

“We have evidence that voters registration⁴ – book listing voters and their details…identity cards and…registration number(s)…contains discrepancies⁵, preposterous⁶ inclusions and omissions⁷.  And we have so far recorded over 120 persons who have numerous cards,” he says.
   
The number of voters in the official registration list has changed many times, he adds, with the figure varying by thousands.

“We don’t know the number of voters in this country,” he says.  Ya Nangoloh says there are other problems as well.

   
“We have also seen that the final voters register contains hundreds deceased persons.  It contains 132 at least under age persons.  And then is also contains persons who have registered after the cutoff date.”
   
The National Society for Human Rights took its complaints to the election commission earlier this month and requested an “electronic” version of the list.  That request was turned down and the group claims the panel has retaliated⁸ against it for publicizing the problems.
   
“They retaliated against us on Sunday.  We received a letter that we are no longer qualified⁹ to act as election observers.  So, the ban against us is illegal and we are set to go to court this evening to challenge the withdrawal  of our status to act as election monitors,” he says.
   
The group also says the media coverage¹⁰ of the election campaigns has heavily favored the ruling SWAPO party candidates. 

1 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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？

5 discrepancies   

n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• wide discrepancies in prices quoted for the work 这项工作的报价出入很大
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

7 omissions   

n.省略( omission的名词复数 )；删节；遗漏；略去或漏掉的事（或人）

参考例句：

• In spite of careful checking, there are still omissions. 饶这么细心核对，还是有遗漏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• It has many omissions; even so, it is quite a useful reference book. 那本书有许多遗漏之处，即使如此，尚不失为一本有用的参考书。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 retaliated   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• When he once teased her for her inexperience, she retaliated. 有一次，他讥讽她没有经验，她便反唇相讥。 来自辞典例句
• The terrorists retaliated by killing three policemen. 恐怖分子以杀死三名警察相报复。 来自辞典例句

9 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。