I Coast poll boss denies fraud

2010-02-07 19:29

Abidjan - Ivory Coast's electoral commission chief is refusing to resign over allegations that he added almost half a million fake names to voter rolls ahead of this year's presidential election.

Robert Beugre Mambe says he did not commit fraud and on Saturday assured voters that the computer systems used by election offices are tamper-proof. Government investigators on Friday accused him of padding electoral rolls in the West African country's rebel-controlled north.

Rebels signed a power-sharing agreement with the government in 2007. Elections were slated for 2008.

But presidential elections have been delayed every year since 2005, when President Laurent Gbagbo finished his last term. Elections are now slated for late February or early March.

- AP