The
first edition of the Elections
E - Letter newsletter IFES
prepared went out this week.
This
is an attempt to supplement the International
Assistance Group (IAG) meetings IFES
held and keep the international community
informed on election related issues,
in respect of the forthcoming presidential
and local elections in 2004.
Thus,
the international community can join
forces in contributing to another well-organized
and successful elections. The topic
of the first issue of the Election E-Letter
was the 50%+1 turnout constitutional
requirement for presidential elections.
On
November 13th and 14th the Council
of Europe (CoE) sponsored a conference
in Ohrid about the Proposed Law
on Financing Political Parties.
The
conference was attended by representatives
of the State Audit Bureau, State
Anti-Corruption
Commission, Ministry of Finance,
Ministry of Justice, NGOs, Law
School professors, journalists,
MPs, as well as representatives
of international organizations:
IFES, OSCE and CoE. The purpose
of the conference was to comment
on the latest draft of the Law
on Financing Political Parties
and to propose improvements.The
main points of discussion were
the public and private financing
of the political parties, as well
as the need to have a body or
bodies in charge of implementation.As
a result of the conference there
will be changes to the Draft Law
before it is submitted to Parliament
for the second reading.
The
IFES Project Director, Dan Blessington,
gave a short presentation and
an overview of the type of work
IFES does in Macedonia and actively
participated throughout, focusing
on enforcement. The conference
received extensive press coverage.
Macedonian
SEC Delegation Observes Albanian
Local Government Elections
A
delegation of four members of
the Macedonian State
Election Commission, accompanied
by IFES representatives, traveled
to Albania to observe the local
elections on October 12. The Elections
for mayors and councilors of 65
municipalities, 11 city boroughs
in Tirana and 309 communes in
Albania were the fourth local
elections held in Albanian since
1991. The program included meetings
with the CEC, ODIHR representatives,
IFES Albania Election Advisors
and the IFES Human Rights Advisors,
as well observation of training
of election officials, material
distribution and voting.
Highlights
of the trip included a visit to
the Albanian CEC offices where
the delegation met with the head
of the voter registration division,
toured the central voter registry
depository, and met with CEC President
Ilirjan Celibashi. The delegation
also attended a pre-election day
press conference and observed
a CEC session where the issue
of the final voters’ list was
being debated. On Election Day,
the delegation observed the opening
and closing of polling stations
and observed polling throughout
the day in Tirana and Durres.
The delegation also had the opportunity
to observe new counting procedures
which were introduced with the
new Electoral Code in June 2003.
The
visit by the SEC delegation was
part of the IFES Macedonia SEC
professional development program.
The observation trip marks the
third exchange between Macedonian
and Albanian election officials.
The SEC and Albanian CEC have
forged a professional relationship
over the past two years and Albania
has served as regional model for
the SEC as it develops its institutional
capacity. The observation trip
was a follow-on visit to the a
July visit to the CEC offices
to observe how a permanent Albanian
Secretariat operates prior to
an election.
Survey
Report of Election Officials - Press Conference
The
State Election Commission (SEC) of the
Republic
of Macedonia and International Foundation
for Election Systems (IFES) held a joint
press conference on July 16, 2003 to
officially present the Survey Report
of Election Officials who participated
in 2002 parliamentary elections.
The
Survey was conducted between February
21 and March 6, 2003 with the 1,328
election officials throughout Macedonia.
The
Survey was conducted by Strategic Marketing
and Media Research Institute (SMMRI)
and was financially supported by IFES
and the US Agency for International
Development (USAID).
IFES
Holds Retreat in Greece to Identify Priority
Issues for SEC
On
11- 14 June, representatives of the
Macedonian State Election Commission
(SEC), Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC), University of Pittsburgh
School of Public and International Affairs/Macedonia,
and the International Foundation for
Election Systems (IFES) participated
in a strategic planning retreat in Leptokaria,
Greece.
The
goal of the retreat was to provide these
bodies an opportunity to identify priority
issues for the SEC and next steps for
addressing these issues. The needs identified
by participants include: the development
of an SEC action plan through 2004 local
and presidential elections, establishment
of an SEC secretariat as soon as possible,
legislative reform in the areas of campaign
and political party finance and the
appointment of individuals to election
management bodies, codification of election
laws, and the establishment of linkages
among various bodies dealing with electoral
and democratic reform in Macedonia.
IFES
will work closely with the SEC to address
these issues in a strategic and transparent
manner using comparative regional experience.
A comprehensive retreat report will
be made available on the IFES website.
The Ministry of Justice Working Group
on Electoral Reform and Anti Corruption
Commission will use the retreat report
in their work.
On
the 11 May 2003, Early Mayoral Election
were held in the following municipalities:
Shuto Orizari; Kochani; Orizari; Vasilevo;
and Demir Hisar. 112 Electoral Boards
were involved, which served approximately
64,000 registered voters in these municipalities.
After
the first round mayors were elected
for 3 municipalities (Shuto Orizari,
Vasilevo and Demir Hisar).
The
second round of the Early Mayoral Elections
on which the remaining two mayors were
elected was held on the 25 May, 2003.
Below
you can find the names of the newly
elected mayors along with the complete
elections results
FIRST
ROUND RESULTS
Municipality
& Reference
#
of Candidates
Number
of PS
Reg.
Voters
Turnout
Invalid
Ballots
Winning
Candidate/Party
Shuto
Orizari (123)
1
17
16636
9,787
(59.93%)
235
Erduan
Iseini/ Together for Macedonia
Kochani
(45)
4
45
28272
9,640
(34.09%)
311
Second
round in 2 weeks
Orizari
(49)
2
11
4013
1,753
(43.68%)
32
Second
round in 2 weeks
Vasilevo
(81
2
17
9413
4,941
(52.5%)
74
Slavcho
Hristov/ Together for Macedonia
Demir
Hisar (35)
2
22
5986
4,025
(67.24%)
116
Mishe
Miloshevski/ Together for Macedonia
11
112
64320
30,330
768
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Municipality
& Reference
#
of Candidates
Number
of PS
Reg.
Voters
Turnout
Invalid
Ballots
Winning
Candidate/Party
Kochani
(45)
4
45
28272
9,611
(33.99%)
304
Todor
Pashoski/ Together for Macedonia
Orizari
(49)
2
11
4013
2,203
(54.80%)
53
Zvonko
Mitkov / VMRO-DPMNE
6
56
32285
11,814
357
Results
Source: Zoran Tanevski, SEC Spokesperson
According to: SEC official results
Date: May 28, 2003
Early
Mayoral Elections Voter Education
and Motivation
Campaign
The
State Election Commission in
cooperation with IFES, launched
a Voter Education and Motivation Campaign
for the Early Mayoral Elections scheduled
for May 11, 2003.
The Early Mayoral Elections are to take
place in five municipalities: Shuto
Orizari, Kochani, Orizari, Vasilevo
and Demir Hisar.
The purpose of the campaign is to inform
and motivate the voters to go out and
vote in the elections since 50%+1 turnout
is required in order for the elections
to be successful.
Early
Mayoral Elections in five municipalities
scheduled for May 11th.
Early
mayoral elections in five municipalities
are scheduled for May 11th. The five
municipalities are: Shuto Orizari; Kochani;
Orizari; Vasilevo; and Demir Hisar.
There are 112 Electoral Boards involved,
which will serve approximately 74,000
registered voters in these municipalities.
By the end of March 2003, IFES had provided
the SEC with a
procurement plan; and had reached agreement
with the SEC on the text of an electoral
board manual being produced by IFES
for polling station workers and other
election officials. IFES also hired
a local advertising agency to produce
and print electronic materials to be
used in an official voter education
and motivation campaign. All print and
electronic products will be in the Macedonian
language; some print materials will
also be produced in Roma.
The
success of the voter motivation campaign
is of great importance since 50%+1
turnout is required, in order for the
elections to be successful.
In
January, IFES and the SEC co-sponsored
a seminar
to review key elements of Macedonia’s
most recent elections with a view towards
strengthening the legal and administrative
framework for future elections. More
than 70 individuals participated in
the one-day event, including government
officials and representatives
of NGOs, international organizations
and the diplomatic corps.
The participants agreed on the need
to take measures to make election administration
permanent and continuous rather than
episodic and improvised and to undertake
electoral reform in 2003 in order to
have new laws in place before the next
presidential and local elections in
2004.
These activities will provide important
information for the SEC to meet the
challenges of preparing for the 2004
local and presidential elections.
Electio
Republic
of Macedonia and International Foundation
for Election Systems (IFES) held a joint
press conference on July 16, 2003 to
officially present the Survey Report
of Election Officials who participated
in 2002 parliamentary elections.
On
11- 14 June, representatives of the
Macedonian State Election Commission
(SEC), Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC), University of Pittsburgh
School of Public and International Affairs/Macedonia,
and the International Foundation for
Election Systems (IFES) participated
in a strategic planning retreat in Leptokaria,
Greece. 
in
cooperation with IFES, launched
a Voter Education and Motivation Campaign
for the Early Mayoral Elections scheduled
for May 11, 2003.
procurement plan; and had reached agreement
with the SEC on the text of an electoral
board manual being produced by IFES
for polling station workers and other
election officials. IFES also hired
a local advertising agency to produce
and print electronic materials to be
used in an official voter education
and motivation campaign. All print and
electronic products will be in the Macedonian
language; some print materials will
also be produced in Roma. 