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November
08, 2004 |
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November
02, 2004 |
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| TRAINING
OF ELECTORAL BOARD MEMBERS
- REFERENDUM 2004 |
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As
an integral part of the
technical assistance program
to the State Election
Commission of the Republic
of Macedonia, IFES is
again engaged in the process
of training of Electoral
Board Members.
 There
are 2973 Electoral Boards
throughout Macedonia which
will administer the voting
on the Referendum Day.
According to the Law on
Referendum and Civil Initiative,
each electoral board is
made up of three members
and three deputies. However,
five staff will administer
each polling station to
ensure smooth technical
operations.
An
integral part of the training
program is the Electoral
Board Procedure Manual
which details the duties
and responsibilities of
Electoral Board members,
technical aspects of voting,
and relevant articles
of the Law on Referendum
and Civil Initiative and
Law on Election of Members
of Parliament of the Republic
of Macedonia. The Manual
was officially approved
by the SEC on October
15, 2004 and has been
printed in Macedonian
(15,500), Albanian (4,000),
and English (500). Each
electoral board member
and deputy member is supplied
with a manual, while one
extra copy is placed in
the polling kit delivered
to each polling station.
The English language version
is also provided to International
Observers.
On
October 16, 2004 IFES
Macedonia organized one-day
training session for the
37 local trainers who
will conduct the training
of electoral board members.
Almost all of the local
trainers were engaged
in past elections and
so are very familiar with
procedures, duties, and
responsibilities of EBs.
Mr. Stevo Pendarovski,
President of the State
Election Commission, also
participated in this session
and he discussed different
technical aspects regarding
the voting on the Referendum
Day.
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September
17, 2004 |
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| REFERENDUM
ON LAW ON TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION
OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA |
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In
accordance with the provisions
of the Ohrid Framework
Agreement, the Republic
of Macedonia is obliged
to pass the package of
29 laws on decentralization,
including the Law on Territorial
Organization. This Law
was passed by the Parliament
of the Republic of Macedonia
on August 11, 2004. It
envisions a reduction
in the number of municipalities
from 123 to 84.
On
January 16, 2004 the World
Macedonian Congress
started a citizen initiative
to collect 150,000 signatures
for announcing a referendum
on keeping the 1996 Law
on Territorial Organization
i.e. the current number
of municipalities. The
collection of signatures
in district offices of
the Ministry of Justice
started on February 23,
2004 and ended on August
23, 2004. As a result
of this effort 180,454
signatures were collected.
The Parliament of the
Republic of Macedonia
adopted the decision for
announcing the referendum
on September 03, 2004
in accordance with the
Constitution of the Republic
of Macedonia Article 73
paragraph 3: “The Assembly
is obliged to issue notice
of a referendum if one
is proposed by at least
150,000 voters. The decision
made in a referendum is
binding.
The referendum is scheduled
for November 07, 2004.
In order to have a successful
referendum two thresholds
must be passed: half of
the registered voters
must cast their vote and
half of them must vote
in favor.
The
referendum question is:
“Are
you in favor of the territorial
organization of the local
self government (the municipalities
and City of Skopje) as
determined by the Law
on Territorial Division
of the Republic of Macedonia
and Determination of the
Areas of Local Self-Government
Units (Official Gazette
of the Republic of Macedonia
No. 49/1996) and the Law
on the City of Skopje
(Official Gazette of the
Republic of Macedonia
No. 49/1996)?
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Voter
turnout from Sunday's
referendum on territorial
organization according
to the State Election
Commission equalled 26,24%.
