The Media Center of Shams Network Announces Its Preliminary Opening Report
The Media Watch of Shams Network for Monitoring Elections conducted its first press conference at 11:00AM on July 25th 2009, the day of the Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Kurdistan. Mr. Hoshear Malo, a member of the training and reporting department of Shams Network, has announced that the adherence to the time of the opening of the polling stations was good and the presence of the officers of the polling stations at their location was also to a great extent can be characterized as good.
Mr. Malo announced that the main issue facing the voters was the inability to find their names in the voters’ list, which disenfranchised a large number of voters. The percentage of those who didn’t find their names in the voters’ list had reached 50% in some polling stations, and he urged the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to find a convenient and rapid solution for this problem. Mr. Malo complained about the quality of the secret ink used in the election and he declared that many voters told Shams observers that it can be easily removed.
It was announced also in the press conference that many Shams Network observers were not allowed to enter the polling stations and most of them had trouble entering the polling station because they were carrying cell phones which are necessary for conducting the PVT part of the observation mission that needs a rapid transfer of information as a prerequisite for the implementation of the observation mission. Mr. Malo stressed the fact that IHEC was aware of the need for the monitors of Shams to carry cell phones and they agreed on that before the implementation of the project. This, in Mr. Malo’s words, had made Shams look for alternative means to convey the information.
In another part of the press conference, Miss. Neaz Abdulla, the official speaker on part of Shams, had announced that there were violations in terms of the assistance provided to illiterate voters by the officers in the polling stations. With regard to the inability to adhere to the campaign silence during the electoral process and in the neighborhood of 100 m from the polling station, she declared that Shams didn’t notice any incidence like that, but she announced that there were cars carrying the campaigning materials of specific lists and candidates moving close to the polling stations. The speaker of Shams presented the following violations for the respective governorates;
Erbil Governorate: The observers of Shams noticed the presence of campaigning material within 100m of 21% of the polling stations. And there were shortage of the electoral materials in 1% of the polling stations covered by Shams Observers. Furthermore, the opening of 28% of the polling stations has been delayed until after 8 AM.
Dohuk Governorate: there were campaigning materials within 100m of the polling stations in 10% of those stations. And there were shortage of the election materials in 6% of the polling stations. The opening of the polling station has been delayed until after 8 AM in 10% of the stations.
Sulaimania: there were campaigning materials within 100m of 15% of the polling stations observed by the monitors of Shams. There was shortage of the necessary material for the election in 8% of the polling stations. Furthermore there was a delay in the opening of 16% of the polling stations until after 8 AM.
The Media Watch of Shams Network for Monitoring Elections conducted its first press conference at 11:00AM on July 25th 2009, the day of the Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Kurdistan. Mr. Hoshear Malo, a member of the training and reporting department of Shams Network, has announced that the adherence to the time of the opening of the polling stations was good and the presence of the officers of the polling stations at their location was also to a great extent can be characterized as good.