VOA标准英语2010年-Ivory Coast PM Tries to Ease Concern O

Ivory Coast's Prime Minister is trying to resolve concerns about how the votes in Sunday's presidential election will be counted.

With just five days to go before Ivory Coast's long-delayed presidential election, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro wants to reassure¹ voters that their ballots² will be counted properly.

Less than one week ago, the country's electoral commission announced that all votes would be counted by hand as results move from prefecture to communal³ to department to regional levels, until the final candidate totals are announced in Abidjan.

The prime minister's office then announced it is hiring a local company to count those votes electronically. The Information Technology Localization and Security Company (SILS Tehnologie) supervised Ivorian vote counting in 2007.

But the company's involvement in this election has drawn⁴ complaints from some opposition⁵ candidates and some members of the electoral commission because it is a subsidiary of a firm led by Ahoua Don Mello, a close associate of President Laurent Gbagbo, who is running for re-election.

Mello spoke⁶ at a campaign event for President Gbagbo Friday saying a manual count of votes would "leave the door open for every possible adventure." If the country wants to avoid drama, Mello says, it should avoid counting the votes by hand.

For many opposition candidates, the potential technological⁷ benefits of counting the votes electronically does not offset⁸ the risk of possible fraud because of Mello's involvement in the Gbagbo campaign.

The Movement of Future Forces Party Secretary General Philippe Legre calls the company's involvement in this vote a provocation⁹ by President Gbagbo's party to violate the independence of the electoral commission.

So Prime Minister Soro now says SILS Technologie will be joined in the electronic vote counting by a committee of independent experts including technicians from his office, the electoral commission, the Swedish technology firm Crypto AG and the U.N. observer mission.

Sindou Meite, the prime minister's spokesman, says the committee of experts will work with SILS Technology to secure the results and guarantee their authenticity¹⁰ in full transparency. He says nothing will be done to undermine the authority of the electoral commission, which remains¹¹ the only institution authorized¹² to announce the results.

Meite says the prime minister wants to reassure voters that the October 31 presidential election will be transparent¹³ in every respect and there will be no manipulation of results that might cast doubt on the integrity of the process.

This vote to reunite the country after a brief civil war has been repeatedly delayed since 2005. If no one wins an outright¹⁴ majority in this first round, a second round of voting is expected in late November.
 

1 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 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。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

8 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

9 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

10 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

13 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

14 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。