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Women's Vote Important Factor in Ivory Coast Elections

   Anne Look | Abidjan 18 November 2010
   Educators  teach  female  street vendors how to properly fold a ballot
   after marking their candidate so the ink will not smudge into multiple
   boxes, rendering the vote invalid

Photo: VOA Photo A. Look

   Educators  teach  female  street vendors how to properly fold a ballot
   after marking their candidate so the ink will not smudge into multiple
   boxes, rendering the vote invalid

   Women  represent  more  than  60  percent  of the registered voters in
   Abidjan,  Ivory Coast's largest city. They are increasingly a force to
   be reckoned with in the country's politics. It is a trend that has not
   been  lost  on  the country's presidential hopefuls, including the two
   remaining  candidates,  President  Laurent  Gbagbo  and  former  prime
   minister,  Alassane  Ouattara,  who will face off in a second round on
   November 28.
   Just four days before the first round of polling, female supporters of
   President  Gbagbo  hit  the  streets  of  Abidjan,  led by the group's
   president, Genevieve Bro-Grebe.