 The opposition participated in municipal elections in January–February 1994 and subsequent Senate elections, most recently in April 2004, gaining representation at the local level as well as three seats in the Senate.In October 2001, Mauritania held its third legislative and fifth municipal elections since the establishment of multi-party politics under the 1991 constitution.In an effort to forestall the sort of widespread accusations of fraud and manipulation which had accompanied previous elections, the government introduced new safeguards, including published voter lists and a hard-to-falsify voter identification card.