Voter identification

Both Morocco and the Polisario Front have been cooperating with the identification of voters in preparation for a referendum on the future of Western Sahara, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a new report on the situation in the territory. In May, the two sides accepted a UN-brokered package of measures to allow preparations for the referendum to go ahead and the process of identifying people eligible to vote in the referendum resumed on 15 June. Annan stressed the importance of the parties staying the course leading up to 15 July, when the first part of the provisional voters’ list will be published and the appeals process will begin. According to the Secretary-General’s report, over 2,300 people have been interviewed since 15 June, bringing the total number identified since the process began in August 1994 to nearly 150,000. Under an August 1998 Settlement Plan, the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was set up to monitor a ceasefire and identify and register qualified voters for the referendum on whether the former Spanish colony would gain independence or become part of Morocco. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is preparing to repatriate refugees to the territory in accordance with the Settlement Plan. Pre-registration has begun to determine their willingness to return and their final destination in the territory.