Newsroom
Presidential election largely consistent with international standards, says OSCE/ODIHR in Skopje
SKOPJE 15 April 2004
SKOPJE, 15 April 2004 - The 14 April presidential election in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was largely consistent with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections.
However, a limited number of irregularities, at polling stations and during the tabulation of results were observed, says the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in its statement of preliminary findings and conclusions, published today. Some 300 international observers monitored the election for the OSCE/ODIHR in over 1,400 polling stations.
"This election was held under challenging circumstances and was generally conducted well," said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of the OSCE/ODIHR. "There were nevertheless irregularities which were related not only to the short timeline. But importantly, the violence which has characterized many previous elections was absent this time around."
"Election day itself was overall conducted in a calm and orderly manner and our observers assessed election procedures positively in a vast majority of polling stations," said Ambassador Friedrich Bauer, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. "However, Election Boards and commissions often failed to follow proper procedures in tabulating the results, and sometimes made ad hoc adjustments to the results protocols in order to reconcile them."
Observers noted isolated incidents of proxy voting and ballot stuffing. In two cases they witnessed an election board member falsifying signatures on the voter' lists. There were a few cases of pressure exerted on voters; moreover, group voting was observed in 13 per cent of stations visited.
The EOM acknowledges that the authorities speedily enacted special amendments to the election law, as a result of the tragic death of the late President Boris Trajkovski. This allowed the election process to be implemented according to a tight timeframe. The election campaign was calm overall. Voters were presented with a real choice between four candidates and there was an active debate on major issues, although the debate was largely contained within the respective ethnic communities. The media provided extensive and generally unbiased coverage of electoral issues.
Shortcomings include a significant number of names of people residing abroad on the voter' lists, which could lead to the possibility of electoral malfeasance, be it real or perceived, and has a bearing on turnout figures. This is caused by the continuing absence of information of actual residence of voters, especially those residing abroad and should be addressed in time for the municipal election that is to be held later this year.
The OSCE/ODIHR wishes to thank the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and State Election Commission for their co-operation. It would also like to thank the OSCE Spillover Monitoring Mission to Skopje for its support and co-operation.
However, a limited number of irregularities, at polling stations and during the tabulation of results were observed, says the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in its statement of preliminary findings and conclusions, published today. Some 300 international observers monitored the election for the OSCE/ODIHR in over 1,400 polling stations.
"This election was held under challenging circumstances and was generally conducted well," said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of the OSCE/ODIHR. "There were nevertheless irregularities which were related not only to the short timeline. But importantly, the violence which has characterized many previous elections was absent this time around."
"Election day itself was overall conducted in a calm and orderly manner and our observers assessed election procedures positively in a vast majority of polling stations," said Ambassador Friedrich Bauer, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. "However, Election Boards and commissions often failed to follow proper procedures in tabulating the results, and sometimes made ad hoc adjustments to the results protocols in order to reconcile them."
Observers noted isolated incidents of proxy voting and ballot stuffing. In two cases they witnessed an election board member falsifying signatures on the voter' lists. There were a few cases of pressure exerted on voters; moreover, group voting was observed in 13 per cent of stations visited.
The EOM acknowledges that the authorities speedily enacted special amendments to the election law, as a result of the tragic death of the late President Boris Trajkovski. This allowed the election process to be implemented according to a tight timeframe. The election campaign was calm overall. Voters were presented with a real choice between four candidates and there was an active debate on major issues, although the debate was largely contained within the respective ethnic communities. The media provided extensive and generally unbiased coverage of electoral issues.
Shortcomings include a significant number of names of people residing abroad on the voter' lists, which could lead to the possibility of electoral malfeasance, be it real or perceived, and has a bearing on turnout figures. This is caused by the continuing absence of information of actual residence of voters, especially those residing abroad and should be addressed in time for the municipal election that is to be held later this year.
The OSCE/ODIHR wishes to thank the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and State Election Commission for their co-operation. It would also like to thank the OSCE Spillover Monitoring Mission to Skopje for its support and co-operation.