About Election Observers
ANFREL’s activities are rooted in the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1989/51 (7 March 1989) and also in the principles laid out in the Framework for Future Efforts at Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Principle of Periodic and Genuine Elections.
These principles provide a universal and equal suffrage, as well as setting up an impartial administration to ensure the reliability of the electoral process. Apart from independent administration and supervision of electoral process by related agencies, there have to be appropriate voter registration methods, reliable balloting procedures and effective measures for preventing frauds and resolving disputes.
Election observers play an important role in the pursuit of democratic elections that follow minimal conditions:
franchise is genuinely universal;
political parties and individual candidates are able to enjoy their legitimate rights to take part in the election;
there is freedom of expression allowing possible criticism of the incumbent government;
there is the right to free movement and assembly;
all contesting parties and candidates have reasonable access to the media;
And freedom of choice for voters to cast ballots.
As a rule, ANFREL observation missions never operate against the will of the host country. Since its formation in 1997, all the government in its place of mission, civil society organizations and the general public have welcomed ANFREL. The mandate of ANFREL observation missions rules out any kind of interference during the electoral processes.
ANFREL missions have no authority to change, improve or correct any shortcomings during the election process by any means but in a form of recommendations to the proper authorities.
ANFREL only has the mandate to collect, verify and analyze information concerning election-related issues. After the conclusion of observation activities, preliminary and final reports produced are disseminated. These reports include an assessment of electoral process based on international standards for free and fair democratic elections as well as recommendations.
Election observers, observe the entire electoral process as it takes place to make an informed and accurate assessment on both the conduct of elections and the surrounding environment. ANFREL believes that the use of election observers can provide an effective means of verifying the integrity and fairness of electoral process and its outcomes.
In addition, the presence of observers creates an atmosphere that decreases the likelihood of intimidation, violence or fraud. Well-planned observation missions significantly instill confidence in voters and increase not only their willingness to seriously participate in electoral process but also their ability to freely express political wills at the polls without fears of reprisal.
It is therefore essential that election observers come from non-partisan organizations with proven records and reputations for professional and ethical qualifications in areas related to the technicality of electoral process and the promotion of democracy.
Balloting and vote counting process usually form the focal point of election observation activities of ANFREL. Apart from that, election observers are also active in examining other aspects of electoral process such as:
the appointment of electoral officers,
the registration of political parties and voters,
the verification and designation of candidates,
the demarcation of constituencies,
the enforcement of election campaign regulations,
And the conduct of voting and vote counting as well as the review of complaints and the installation of election winners.
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The authority and the media deserve special scrutiny given their potential for improperly using their status to manipulate electoral process and influence election outcomes.
At the end of the polls and after preliminary results are released, election observers examine the way in which complaints about cheating and irregularities are handled by related agencies.
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