VOA标准英语2011--Liberia Prepares for Voting Amid Securit

Liberia Prepares for Voting Amid Security Concerns, Refugee Crisis

Liberia's electoral commission is working to safeguard voting along the border with Ivory Coast, where hundreds of mercenaries from the recent Ivorian political crisis are under arrest and thousands of Ivorian refugees are stretching Liberian social services.
Liberia has two big votes in the next few months, a constitutional referendum and a presidential election. With campaigning for both contests well under way, Liberia's electoral commission is working to ensure that voting in areas near the Ivorian border will not be disrupted by instability stemming from the Ivorian political crisis.
"Firstly, when we look at the Ivorian refugees, our primary concern will be one of security concern in terms of mercenaries coming over with the hopes of threatening the process," said James Fromayan who chairs Liberia's electoral commission.
Several hundred mercenaries who fought for former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo are now in Liberian internment¹ camps where they are visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Norra Kero is the ICRC's communication delegate for Liberia.
"We registered them, and we have given them some assistance in terms of food and blankets, and now in the internment camp we are still visiting them and sharing our findings with the authorities," said Kero.
Liberian federal prosecutor² Allisious Allison says Ivorians who entered Liberia with weapons were offered the chance to return home, but when they said they would rather go to the Liberian border county of Grand Geddeh, the government decided³ to keep them locked up, at least until after the election.
"They do not want to go back to Ivory Coast, but instead they want to go to Grand Geddeh," said Allison. "So you can see the situation. Our security information that we are getting from around here, it is not healthy for those people to go that route."
The Liberia director for the peace-building group International Alert, Jackson Speare, says the presence of more than 150,000 Ivorian refugees has already changed the electoral dynamic in Liberian border communities.
"You have a lot of people joining an already-fluid situation," Speare noted⁴. "People can begin to disrupt different campaigning and other things. People can begin to threaten people. Crime rates can begin to increase, which will influence the movement of people in the region. You have that quantity of persons coming in, you know what is going to happen in terms of the cost of living. So it will influence everything. It could also influence the elections."
Eddie Jarwolo heads Liberia's National Youth Movement for Transparent⁵ Elections. He says Liberian security forces are overwhelmed by the Ivorian refugees.
"Our immigration system is poor," said Jarwolo. "Our security network is very poor. Some of the guys who cross could be combatants from Ivory Coast who come in and we don't have the time to scrutinize⁶ the guys. In terms of election violence, they could easily be mobilized to get involved in the process. This is a challenge for us."
Voter registration⁷ closed before most of the refugees arrived. So electoral commission chairman Fromayan says he is less concerned about illegal voters than he is with maintaining security around polling stations and safeguarding the results.

1 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 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。

6 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

7 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？