An Ivorian has his photo taken as part of the registration process. (Photo Courtesy Ky Chung /UN)

Nairobi — Prospects for Cote d'Ivoire's belated presidential elections being held on November 29 looked brighter with the completion of the contested provisional voter registration list on Saturday.

Announcing the good news to religions leaders in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's the vice-chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Mr Jean Baptiste Gomis, said the list was contained in a CD that will be presented to the commission by SAGEM, the French technical and security outfit.

SAGEM was commissioned as an independent agency, alongside the Government of Cote d'Ivoire during peace deal agreements brokered by the international community, to identify the legible electorate and publish the voter registration list.

The move was intended to prevent disagreements by the political class. Mr Gomis broke the news to the religious leaders during a meeting on the theme; "Managing the registration contentions on the provisional voter registration list and the distribution of voter cards," last Thursday.

During the meeting, the chairman of the IEC, Mr Robert Beugré Mambé, urged the various religious leaders to nurture the virtues of fraternity in their places of worship and to inform Ivorians that the "upcoming elections will be a popular feast".

"This commission is appealing to you to continue to strengthen those messages of peace and reconciliation," Mr Mambé told the clerics.