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1/6/2002
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The Civil Society Election Monitoring Observatory
First report around 2005 presidential poll
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13/9/2005
Twenty-two civil society associations' board held meetings to arrange the monitoring of the first multi-candidate presidential elections, and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) held the upper hand of coordinating the coalition, moreover, coalition members, public political characters, constitutional law lecturers, and all respectable activists put the main principles and rules which helps the monitoring process to succeed and achieve its goals.
Some coalition's associations achieved to maintain some procedures in the monitoring process:
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights monitored 757 poll stations in 19 governorates.
Raising and Societal Participation Association monitored 21 poll stations in 16 governorates.
Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services, monitored voting in 15 poll stations in 6 governorates.
Land Centre for Human Rights monitored voting and polling in 30 poll stations in 15 governorates.
Egyptian Centre for Women Rights monitored 50 poll stations in 6 governorates.
Egyptian Organization for Democratic Improvement Donation monitored 72 poll stations in 20 governorates.
Legal Aid Association for Human Rights monitored 86 poll stations in 17 governorates, and made reports around monitoring process in 9 governorates.
Human Rights Activists Association (Alexandria) monitored 12 poll stations in Alexandria.
Cairo Centre for Human Rights Studies monitored media coverage in six private and governmental TV channel, and 17 governmental and independent news papers.
Al Mahrousa Centre for Researches and Information made a report around political climate and legal frame work of the poll, and observing media coverage in ten governmental channels, three private and thirty national, independent and partial news papers.
It has been decided also that coalition members and its consultative institution will issue a final report about the monitoring process results, and it is our duty to present a report which aims for giving a clear vision about the tendency of the elections, information presented in this report, resulted from the supervisors' efforts to realize election's capability to reflect voters' will, accordingly, the coalition declared the following monitoring results:
First: elections' political climate:
Despite freedom of opinion which pleased opposition and independent press and opposition movements which calls for both constitutional and democratic reform, elections process happened to be restrictive for public freedoms, for instance, the state of emergency which continues for more than 24 years, while the government couldn't suspend it during the elections, and this is what opposition activists' recommended, (on the other hand, it didn't use it during electoral propaganda). Moreover, there are many restrictive laws, shame law and national unity from Article 98 or ….etc, political parties law 40 (1977), NGOs law 84 (2002), workers' unions law 100 (1993) which was amended to law 5 (1995) and assembly law 10 (1914), while on prevision terms, the government pledged to abolish imprisonment in publishing liability, but no promise was fulfilled. In addition, State Security Courts (emergency) still holds the power, and civilians are still tried before military courts.
On the other hand, the last years witnessed severe interference in opposition parties' work, to be capable for using laws which freeze its activities, for example, Labor Party's newspaper (Al Shaab) was suspended, in addition, preventing important political activists to establish political parties, the two important parties are (Dignity Movement Party) and (Middle Party).
On other terms, workers unions are still besieged by the authorities and syndic laws don't adopt any legalization. In which syndic leaders are continuously calling for amending these laws, for lifting the restrictions over syndic activities, while labor unions have worse circumstances, in which the opposed voters are discarded and poll's forgery is done on a wide range. Court issued verdicts which confirms the illegality of labor poll, finally, restricted laws over NGOs work, declare the state's administrative institution's authority over civil society associations' activities.
Before the elections, opposed demonstrators were beaten and transgressed before Journalists' Syndicate, despite three months passed since this incident, investigations are still held and there is no results declares who committed these violations or when investigation results will be released to the public, moreover, security forces curbed a demonstration in Bab El Louq, and in most cases, security forces curbs dissenters' assemblies every where.
Second: Elections' legal climate:
First we must declare that choosing the president via multi-candidate presidential poll was the most dominant request for civil society activists, and achieving this request is considered a victory for civil society institutions and democracy, despite the government's restricted terms related to the president position's nomination, which prevented many principle political leaders from nominating themselves, by forcing them to declare their boycotting to this amendment, in which civil society associations and judges declared the illegality of the referendum.
On the other hand, Presidential Elections Committee (PEC)'s laws gave it unlimited authorities and its performance is not subjected to any kind of questioning or supervision. This makes such committee constitutes a disturbing element during the electoral process because of its defected structure, its wide powers, its imputable decisions and the opinionated decelerations of those in charge of the committee which was about to ruin the whole electoral process. We refer here to decision of the committee to 1) discarding honorary judges and replacing them with lawyers from State-Cases Association, 2) the refusal of the committee to allow NGO's to monitor the electoral process from inside the polling stations, 3) opposing of the Administrative Court verdict to allow civil society associations to monitor the elections and accepting the verdict two hours before elections without giving any reasons.
Elections-regulating laws stated that those who are allowed to vote should be enlisted in the voters list, despite the calls for allowing all those who hold National ID Number to vote as a means of guaranteeing the efficiency of the elections. Its worth mentioning that the previous prime minister Dr Atef Ebaid promised to finish with the National ID Number project in 2000 then it was extended to 2003 to be used in elections, as we are reaching the end of 2005 and still calling for the same demand. This fact raises questions why the government delays such project which will avoid many breaches of the right of the voters to exert their political rights.
Lastly, insisting to run the whole electoral process in one day prevented the lonely judge from running a full supervision of the whole process, despite that this was an honored demand by the whole judiciary. In general, we can say that if the Committee took into consideration the suggestions of the judiciary, many breaches could have been avoided in the elections of the 7th of September.
Third: Concerning media coverage of electoral campaigning
In general, media wasn't neutral, as it was in favor of NDP candidate. The National television was more neutral in dealing with electoral campaigns compared with private channels and state-owned newspapers disregarding any means of neutrality. State-owned newspapers appeared sarcastic to other candidates of other parties without explaining to the reader the political and legislative reasons behind disabling chances to other candidates who may constitute actual competition to NDP candidate.
Fourth: Administrative pressures and interventions during the election's campaign
Some state associations and authorities practiced severe pressures upon its employees to force them to vote for NDP candidate. These pressures varied from offering promises of promotions and privileges to threatening of punishments and salary deduction. In some villages, peasants were told that the president will know which villages voted for him and he reward them in the form of developmental projects. Lastly, it was noticed that administrative authorities in general pressured businessmen and private sector's companies to put banners and posters of the NDP candidate or else they will have to face administrative obstacles while dealing with state associations.
Fifth: Concerning the voting procedures
- Administrative interventions
Direct administrative interventions were witnessed perpetrated by supporters of NDP who are controlling some state associations and public sector's companies. These interventions included mobilizing and transporting employees of these companies using the company's buses, in other cases money and meals were distributed.
- The secret ink
It was noticed in some of the polling stations that the ink used in the voting process was easily removed from the fingers of the voters while it remained staining in other polling stations. This fact allowed some of NDP supporters to vote in more than one station. This incident drew the attention to the importance of running test samples of the ink to guarantee its efficiency as requested by the Egyptian judges.
- Manipulating voting lists.
It was noticed, and on a wide range, that the data in the voting list were not matching the data in the polling ballots and there were many duplications among voters names, spelling mistakes, repetition of the registration numbers and no alphabetical order of the names. These all lead to dismissing many voters without voting and depriving them from their civil rights. NDP supporters were seen in front of the polling stations and in their possession lists identical to the lists used inside the polling stations which raised questions about governmental privileges used to the favor of NDP candidate only.
- Parties performance
There were clear differences between the performances of each party. Members of NDP were located inside the voting zone propagating for NDP candidate and encouraging the voters to vote for him. This took place all over the nation. Polling stations' supervisors were seen putting badges of NDP candidate which constitutes a vehement breach of Article 20 of Law 174/2005 concerned with presidential elections' regulations which prohibits campaigning two days before the days of elections. Representatives of other parties were not seen inside polling stations.
- Preventing representatives of the candidates to monitor voting and votes-counting processes
In some cases, especially in stations where there was no members of the judiciary, representatives of the candidates were prevented from monitoring the voting procedures; in other cases they were prevented from monitoring the vote-counting process.
- Visiting voters
In some cases vast numbers of visiting voters were allowed to vote, as they were mobilized by and for the candidate of NDP with the assistance of governmental and administrative associations.
- Security
In very rare situations there were tensions between state security and candidates' representatives; however this didn't lead to further consequences.
Sixth: Using women as voting bulks for NDP candidate
- using poor women who are in need for public services offered by the government by mobilizing them in great numbers to vote for NDP candidate or as visiting voters or by distributing pre-marked voting ballots.
- Using women to distract the supervisors while voting using ballots printed in the "Voters Guide" or without using voting ballots or just using their ID cards.
- Oppositions were subjected to harassments in some stations.
- Using poor women who are in need for public services offered by the government to vote for or to propagate for NDP candidate.
Finally, the Civil Society Elections Monitoring Observatory demands from President Husni Mubarak, as the first elected president of Egypt, the following:
1) Establishing an independent committee of investigations to investigate violations took place on the 7th of September, where all parties concerned will engage in a dialogue, including the Presidential Elections' Committee, to put a set of recommendations to avoid such violation in any upcoming elections, especially in the next parliamentary elections.
2) Amending Article 76 (amended) of the Constitution to eliminate obstacles facing citizens to run equally for presidential elections and opens a doorway for actual competition.
3) Amending the part concerned with Presidential Elections' Committee in the Article 76 and the Law of Presidential Elections so that the committee be consisting of general assemblies of courts and removing any immunity that puts the committee above the Constitution, judiciary and law.
4) Prolonging the period of electoral campaigning to establish a suitable climate of actual political competition, to give citizens the chance to grasp the seriousness of the electoral process and to get a full picture of each candidate program which helps in taking the best decision to support one candidate or to abstain.
5) Full judicial supervision over the whole electoral process, whether it's presidential or parliamentary, and all the chosen judges should be in-court judges only. Elections should take place in three stages which allows a full judicial supervision over each ballot box. The importance to enact court decisions especially Administrative Court's decision concerning verdicts issued in requests to oppose elections results and reforming laws to prevent any delays of executing verdicts. In addition to using lawyers registered in Appeal Courts as ballot boxes trustees, and polling should take place in a glass boxes.
6) The importance of separating State associations from the ruling party to prevent using public funds, buildings and transports of the governmental associations during the electoral process. The importance of guaranteeing the neutrality of all audio-visual media and newspapers, whether it is a sate-owned or private.
7) Eliminating any kind of punishment of those who abstain of voting, as this constitutes a sever violations to citizens freedom of expression.
8) Legalizing the supervising role of civil society's associations in presidential and parliamentary elections in all of their stages such as vote-counting process and announcing elections results.
9) Establishing a committee consisting of political parties, judges and NGO's to review all voting list and its technicality, or finishing the National ID Number project which was supposed to finish in 2003 and allowing voting for National ID Number holders only.
10) Establishing a national committee consisting of representatives of political parties, NGO's and civil society members and Constitutional Law professors to amend the 1971 Constitution accomplish a second republic where there is a balance of power among different authorities, and to limit the president's powers, in addition to reinforcing the supervising role of the judiciary over the executive authority and to enshrine the independence of the judiciary.
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