Vice-General Directors of STAE and Vice Provincial Directors take office only on a temporary basis shortly before elections. It would be advisable to have Vice-Directors in
place well in advance of Election Day to allow them to make a more professional contribution to the electoral process.

It is recommended that the law expressly state that all CNE plenary meetings are open to the public.

The electoral law should clearly state that political party delegates, other domestic and international observers shall have full access to all stages of the electoral process
including the tabulation process at provincial and central level, re-qualification of invalid votes and of tally sheets. Access should also include obtaining relevant
information from CNE/STAE regarding the electoral process.

The law could differenciate between electoral infractions and electoral administrative violations.

A detailed publication of results, down to polling station level.

Re-qualification of invalid and contested votes should be done in a first instance at the provincial level.

The EU EOM would like to encourage the government, the political parties and the electoral authorities to enter into a dialogue on how to address the question of the voters lists [...]Despite the effort made in consolidating the lists for these elections, the system such as it is does not seem to be able to produce a substantially accurate voter list. An analysis in detail of the computerised registers databases is necessary. Furthermore, it is essential to undertake without delay, a complete review of the voter registration overall concept, its organisation and procedures.

The only effective way of guaranteeing good electoral organization and management is by longterm work on the issues. To this end, CNE and STAE senior staff at provincial and central level should be involved in long-term planning of their respective activities within the framework of a national plan. A work plan should be established for the period 2005-2008. Operational plans can be made in advance and adjusted a few months prior to elections.

In order to enhance CNE´s transparency it would be advisable to create an information centre where updated information on the process would be available to parties, media, public in general and observers.

Polling could be reduced to one and a half day to allow counting to take place during daylight and to reduce the workload of the polling station staff.

The software to be used for tabulation in future elections should be designed analyzed and tested well in advance of elections in order to create a reliable database. This is a long-term work which requires significant expertise. An external audit made in good time, would avoid problems at the last moment and could enhance the credibility of the system.

The “parallel” tabulation of results at the central level should be eliminated because it does not serve any apparent purpose and fosters public mistrust in the system. Efforts should be concentrated on the tabulation process based upon the provincial results.

A more efficient and quick system of tabulation of results is needed for future elections. CPEs obligation on tabulation process should be extended.

Consideration should be given to introducing legal provisions to increase women’s representation.

Before the next national elections, a civil register should be established, from which a new voters’ list can be created and updated annually.

The voter registration and verification period should be clearly specified and sufficient time allowed for the process.

The MEC should: provide clear, timely and comprehensive written instructions as well as clarification to regulations where necessary

The MEC should: provide political party representatives, domestic observers and international observes with access to meetings at all levels of the election administration.

The MEC should:improve preparatory work, particularly to ensure careful checking of information on ballot papers, proper procurement arrangements and the efficient collection of sensitive materials after election day.

The MEC should: introduce necessary reconciliation and ballot security procedures. These should include a requirement for voters to mark the voters’ roll upon receipt of a ballot paper, the stamping and/or signing of ballots upon issue, and a comparison of the total number of people marked as having received a ballot paper against the
number of ballot papers issued.

District Elections Supervisory Teams (DEST) should include representatives of civil society but not members of state security organisations.

Polling stations should close at 16:00 rather than 18:00 to ensure that counting can be undertaken in daylight.

Civic and voter education should be conducted by state bodies (such as education and public information services) and civil society organisations. The police and National
Intelligence Bureau (NIB) should not be involved in such work.

Efforts should be made to increase public awareness of what can be expected from political representatives and leaders.

Clear instructions should be provided for the allocation of equitable free airtime on public media for political contestants during the campaign period.