Il est souhaitable de procéder à la libéralisation des ondes en supprimant le monopole légal dont bénéficient la radio et la télévision nationales, conformément aux engagements pris à l’égard de l’Union européenne le 30 novembre 2005 au terme des consultations ouvertes dans le cadre de l’accord de Cotonou. Une telle libéralisation doit contribuer à faciliter l’accès des candidats aux médias, à enrichir le débat d’idées et à renforcer la sensibilisation des électeurs.

La publication des résultats doit se faire de façon détaillée par bureau de vote dans des délais qui permettent de former utilement un recours éventuel sur la base des informations détaillées 75 Mission d’observation électorale de l’Union européenne en Mauritanie ainsi mises à la disposition des candidats. Une telle exigence de publication doit être prévue par la loi. Les moyens informatiques devraient être pleinement exploités pour accroître la transparence dans ce domaine. Il convient également qu’une valeur probante soit reconnue aux extraits des procès-verbaux de résultats pour rendre possible leur confrontation éventuelle avec les originaux en cas de contentieux.

Each member of the polling station committee should have a clearly defined role in order to ensure a cross checking mechanism. At least two members should be involved in the process of counting the ballots, while at least two members should fill in each of the tally sheets.

The Election Administration should ensure that the required number of properly trained polling station committee members is present in polling stations throughout the Election Day. Previously trained polling station committee members substitutes should not be released from their obligations if there is no need for a replacement during the opening of the polling. On the contrary, they can be used as fresh staff during the counting.

The number of seats allocated to overseas constituencies and the respective delineation should be revised and adapted to the real number of out-of-country electors, bringing them closer to the national average.

The system of vote consolidation, if it will still be needed234, must be changed in order to be in line with the international standards; namely it must not damage the equality of voting rights and the equality of voting power for all voters. In this regard, the exact average weight factor, as stipulated in the Election Law, should be repealed. The following principles should guide the review of the vote consolidation system: (i) if a ballot with one vote “en plancha” is worth “1”, the sum of the individual weight attributed to nominal votes cast in each ballot can never exceed that value of “1”; the nominal votes can either have (ii) a fixed value equivalent to the fraction corresponding to as many candidates to be elected in a given constituency, or (iii) a variable value where the total weight of nominal votes really marked by a given elector in his/her ballot paper always amounts to “1”.

As already recommended in the 2002 EOM mission report, a simplification and harmonization of the Ecuadorian electoral system (which includes open list system with panachage or preferential vote for candidates from different lists and, for the CA elections, had three different mechanisms of seat allocation) would be useful to enable voters to understand the system. The high number of invalid ballots indicates that the current systems may be too complex for many voters. A simplified system would also help reducing the number of human errors that took place in the counting process. And to adopt the same method to allocate seats in the same election is a means to ensure the “equality of chances”, regardless of constituencies, as international standards require.

Appropriate timelines for the disqualification of candidates should be outlined in the electoral legal framework.

The legal requirement for political parties to win at least 5% of the valid vote in two consecutive national elections in order to maintain their registration should be eliminated.

The Civil Registry should be improved in order to fulfil its role and to ensure that all citizens are registered and provided with ID Cards, which is essential to the full registration of Ecuadorian citizens with voting rights. More mobile teams should be used to register Ecuadorians living in remote and less accessible areas.

After the verification period the TSE should undertake the necessary corrections and again display the voter register at cantonal or parish levels at least 15 days before the Election Day.

The time span between the cut-off date and the Election Day should be shortened in order for voters to be able to make changes and updates closer to E-Day.

The space provided to the polling station should increase and its perimeter should be clearly marked in order to avoid confusion and overcrowding on Election Day and secure the secrecy of the vote.

The number of polling stations should be diminished, except when serving remote or isolated populations, thus reducing the number of polling station committee members needed. Simplified voting procedures and adequate training for all polling station committee members would make it possible for polling station committees to process a larger number of electors. In this regard, the maximum number of electors per polling station should be increased to 500, in accordance to article 36 of the Election Law.

The Electoral Commissions should ensure that all appointed polling station committee members receive appropriate and quality training. Sufficiently in advance of the Election Day, training should pay special attention to counting procedures and to procedures to fill in the election protocols. For this purpose, a permanent pool of qualified electoral trainers should be established.

The Election Commission and the Electoral Tribunal should create mechanisms to ensure that there is a clear information flow from the national to lower level of election administration and vice versa.

The role of the Election Coordinators should be reinforced and their numbers increased to strengthen/improve election preparations at polling station level. Furthermore, their role as a bridge between the Provincial Election Commissions and the Polling Station Committees should be defined and strengthened.

The nomination of General Directors and Heads of Units of the Election Commissions (at national and provincial level) should be made through an open and competitive process based on merits and experience and not on party allegiances.

A separation should take place within the electoral tribunal’s structure in order to include an Election Commission (administrative branch) and an Electoral Tribunal (judicial branch). The Election Commission should be responsible for the technical administration of the elections; the Electoral Tribunal should be composed of judges with special training in electoral law and should be responsible for handling complaints and appeals. The Judicial branch should deal with all appeals against the decisions made by the administrative branch.

The NHRC should be strengthened and made a fully independent body, with its members appointed free from political interference, so that it can play a more meaningful role in the promotion and respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those related to elections.

Law enforcement agencies should strengthen their impartiality and capacity to protect the conduct of elections in an effective and credible manner throughout the country. INEC staff, political party agents, observers and other election stakeholders should receive appropriate security protection throughout the election process.

To ensure greater intra-party democracy, the law should be amended to prevent political parties from substituting candidates, who have won primaries and who are not subject to disqualification, with other persons.

INEC should take concrete steps to ensure greater involvement of women in the election administration at all levels.

In order to enhance commitments that political parties have made in the Code of Conduct against violence and intimidation and to promote the active participation of women in the electoral processes, the Code of Conduct should include meaningful sanctions in cases of non compliance with the code.

Civil society and UNIFEM, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the National Commission of Human Rights, should continue their efforts to enhance the participation of women in public life. In particular, a permanent, sustained and effective nationwide grassroots campaign targeting the participation of women as voters and as candidates should be undertaken.