The most obvious areas for cheating are in the registration of voters and polling itself. One monitoring organisation in Yemen claims to have found 176,000 irregularities in the registers. If some of the people listed succeed in voting on Sunday, it will be conclusive proof of life after death. There are also reports, denied by the government, of military voters registering in constituencies where the government needs extra support. This is a Yemeni adaptation of the celebrated Westminster gambit, where the Tory council re-housed homeless families in Labour wards.
All electors have a registration card with their photograph.
There are separate polling stations for women where veils can be lifted to check their identity. After voting, thumbs are dipped in ink to prevent a return visit, though last time some ink found its way on to door handles and other objects that voters might touch on their way to the polls. The line between smart electoral tactics and unfair practice is a fine one. The negotiations which bring this about are intense and deeply mysterious. In the space of just two elections, tactical withdrawal has developed into an art form by trading seats between parties.