There has been a mixed reaction by New Caledonian politicians to a United Nations report about the electoral roll.
The issue has been contentious for years as voting rights in provincial elections and in a planned referendum are restricted to long-term residents, with mainly Kanak politicians challenging the integrity of the roll.
Downtown Noumea. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
The anti-independence side is highlighting that the UN report dispels claims that the loyalists and the French authorities engaged in fraudulent practices.
However, the pro-independence camp points to grey areas identified in the report and to the lack of a right to appeal.
It also questions the enrolment process for Kanaks as the indigenous people who it claims should be automatically registered as part of their right to self-determination.
The territory is tasked with organising an independence referendum by 2018 in line with the 1998 Noumea Accord.