2022-01-06

West Bank

West Bank / Announcement / Core Program / position paper

MUSAWA's Monitoring Report on the First Phase of the Local Elections

Serious violations that can be dealt with and taking the appropriate action

The Central Elections Committee and representatives of parties and electoral lists must stand up to violations, abuses, and electoral crimes, and strictly adhere to the legislation and the electoral code of conduct.

As part of MUSAWA – The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Law Profession role as an independent civil watchdog accredited by the Central Elections Committee, in its role in monitoring local elections in its first phase, and with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), it carried out two participatory trainings at the Caesar Hotel in Ramallah for a number of members of its monitoring team over the course of (2) days (December 8 and 9, 2021), with the aim of raising the team’s capabilities to monitor the polling and counting processes, provided that the team's monitoring work begins from the morning of December 10, 2021, the beginning of the electoral silence, until the evening of December 11, 2021, the end of the counting process and the announcement of the preliminary results of the local elections in its first stage.

The center monitored the polling and counting processes in 26 local councils located in the 7 governorates of Tulkarm (2), Hebron (4), Ramallah (10), Bethlehem (4), Nablus (3), Qalqilya (1), Jenin (2).

45 monitors (24 women and 21 men) participated in the monitoring, (34) of whom participated in the training and (11) other had previously received training through MUSAWA's activities related to monitoring the electoral process in its various stages, which were implemented in cooperation with the Central Elections Committee. The monitoring team consisted of 34 lawyers, three female media professionals, a university student from the Faculty of Law, and university graduates from the faculties of Education 1, Political Science 1, Business Administration 2, Public Relations 1, a dentist 1, and the legal Monitoring officer at MUSAWA Center.

Each monitor documented the violations he/she observed and the actions s/he took within the limits allowed to be carried out according to the law in written reports submitted to MUSAWA's administration, accompanied by supporting documentation (the observers' reports are kept in MUSAWA Center).

MUSAWA administration supervised the monitors' performance of their duties hour by hour, from the beginning of the electoral silence until the announcement of the results.

MUSAWA administration was in direct contact with the Central Elections Committee, where the observations of its monitors were submitted to the Committee, which contributed to limiting many violations and addressing most of them immediately. MUSAWA team monitored the performance of the election committee staff in charge of distributing ballot boxes in Ramallah Governorate, and documented that the ballot boxes were not deposited in one of the polling stations in Ramallah in a closed room.

MUSAWA Center captured the residents of the Jaba local council, Jenin district, boycotting the elections as a comprehensive boycott, where the election committee staff recorded zero voters due to its residents’ protest against the killing of a university student, which indicates the need to provide an atmosphere of freedom of expression and opinion as a criterion for the integrity and transparency of elections.

MUSAWA's monitoring team was able to get the election committee staff to address violations that the team monitored as they occurred, or shortly after they occurred, and communicated about the violations that the Central Elections Committee staff did not respond to and did not address to MUSAWA's administration, which handled the communication with Central Election Commission to address them.

The most prominent violations that affected the voting and counting stages, according to what was monitored and documented by MUSAWA's team:

1. A widespread violation of electoral silence and the continuation of electoral campaigning until the counting hour, using various propaganda methods, including social media, the use of vehicles carrying loudspeakers, slogans, banners and posters belonging to electoral lists throughout the two voting periods, distributing cards for lists and candidates inside polling stations and in front of their squares and entrances, escorting voters by candidates until their arrival at the polling booths, distributing propaganda cards during the voting process in the polling station yards, and addressing the voters loudly inside the polling stations and asking them to put signs on specific electoral lists, and placing banners and advertising slogans on the foreheads of children accompanied by candidates and agents and voters to the polling stations. It is noteworthy that the Central Elections Committee and its staff did not use their powers to refer the perpetrators of the electoral campaign crime to the Public Prosecution.
2. Banning foreign observers from entering and staying at a polling station in Bethlehem, claiming that their electoral cards are not stamped by the committee, as well as obstructing MUSAWA’s monitor from being present for the same reason. MUSAWA’s communication with the Elections Committee resolved the problem of monitor, but the problem of foreign observers was not resolved.
3. A clear shortage in the number of list agents, and the election committee staff asks MUSAWA's monitor to sign the minutes because there are no agents representing the competing lists. MUSAWA's monitor apologized because the law does not grant them the authority to sign. In some polling stations, candidates acted as agents to cover the text, and sometimes they were present at the polling stations alongside their list agents, and the CEC's staff accepted that.
4. Delay in depositing the ballot papers until after the voter has placed the electoral ink, and keeping the ballot papers next to the box until the voter has placed his thumb with the electoral ink. MUSAWA monitor drew the attention of the committee staff as to what prevented the violation from continuing or recurring.
5. Photocopying of ballot papers by a large number of voters and in the vast majority of polling stations, which indicates the occurrence of electoral crimes related to influencing the voter's will, bribery or threats, and the widespread use of means of intimidation and enticement. What is remarkable is that the committee’s staff was content with asking violators to delete the photos, as it succeeded in some cases and failed in others, which requires re-developing the capabilities of the electoral committee's staff and using its legal authority and referring the perpetrators of election crimes to the Public Prosecution. Also, some voters were making phone calls before casting their votes and while they were standing behind the polling booths. MUSAWA's monitor documented this violation, and the CEC's staff contented themselves with taking mobiles from him. MUSAWA's monitor monitored the success of a voter in photographing the ballot paper without the CEC's staff moving a finger. In another case, when it was discovered that a voter had photographed a ballot paper and refused to erase it, the committee's staff canceled it and enabled the voter to vote again.
6. Extensive legal irregularities in the illiterate people's voting and the leniency of the electoral committee’s staff in violating the provisions of the law that required that an illiterate attendant be a relative of him/her from the first and second degree exclusively, MUSAWA's team monitored and documented a large number of these violations, such as the aunt, the daughter-in-law, the step-daughter, the cousin, the neighbor, the nephew, the son-in-law, by voting for the illiterate voter.
7. A legal violation witnessed by several centers represented by the candidate himself voting for illiterate people, as well as the fact that the children of candidates did so. The legal violations that have marred illiterate voting require organizing specialized training for CEC's staff and obligating them to respect the law in relation to illiterate voting, ensuring that the voter is actually illiterate, and finding alternative means for illiterate polling, such as directing them to place a sign near the logo of the list of their choice.
8. Violations marred the veiled-women polling, as the identity of the veiled woman was not confirmed before casting her vote, especially since the CEC’s staff includes women, which calls for training the CEC's staff on the mechanisms and procedures for verifying the identity of the veiled woman.
9. A voter impersonating his brother to vote more than once. The CEC's staff only prevented him from voting despite the fact that what he had done constituted an electoral crime. MUSAWA's monitor demanded his arrest and referral to the Public Prosecution, but the CEC's staff did not do so.
10. Not posting the names of voters on visible places in the polling stations and replacing that mechanism by the names of voters on electronic devices in front of or near the main gate of the polling stations, which led to the congestion of voters, especially after these devices broke down, forcing the CEC's employee in charge to using his mobile device.
11. Candidates and list agents violating electoral campaign controls and campaigning and using several methods to influence voters and interfere in the work of CEC's staff. MUSAWA's monitors monitored many of these manifestations and alerted the CEC's staff, which led to addressing many of them.
12. More than one ink was used in one of the polling stations in Ramallah governorate, where red and blue ink were used.
13. List agents accompany their children under the age of 5 to polling stations and staying there for long periods without the CEC's staff moving a finger.
14. Dozens of people tried to forcibly storm a polling station in the Ramallah governorate, which led to the Central Elections Committee's summoning to the police. This caused panic and anxiety among the staff, agents, and monitors, including MUSAWA's monitor, until calm returned after the police's intervention. MUSAWA's monitor monitored two allegations, one of which says that the attacking force wanted to enable approximately 50 people to vote after closing the ballot box, and the second claim that a number of voters who were present in the polling station yard and in front of the polling station and handed their ID cards to the CEC's staff were prevented from casting their votes despite their presence and handing over their ID cars before the closing date of the ballot box.
15. Violations in the sorting process at one of the stations, where two void papers were approved and another was not registered to its owner.
16. A voter, on his way to the polling booth, asked a friend of his loudly about the name of the list he wanted to vote for. An employee of the CEC prevented the friend from answering, so the voter tore apart the ballot paper and left without casting his vote.
17. A voter enters with his wife trying to influence her to elect a particular list. The argument between them was heard by the CEC's employee who removed the husband from the hall. Another one accompanied his wife claiming that she was illiterate. Upon discovering the fact that the wife was not illiterate, the CEC's staff expelled him from the station and the wife casted her vote alone. A third accompanied his mother and went to the booth and looked at her ballot paper, when he found that she had chosen a list other than the one he supported, he threatened her and asked her to tear up the paper and replace it and vote for the list he supports. When she refused, he tore up the voting paper asking the CEC's staff to replace it. The CEC's staff took him out of the station and provided his mother with an alternative ballot paper and enabled her to cast her vote alone.
18. Most polling stations do not meet the requirements of accommodation for people with disabilities.
19. Most of the polling stations did not comply with the requirements of facing the Corona pandemic.
20. A representative of the lists signs the minutes of the opening of the poll, even though he is not present at the opening hour.
21. One of the voters refused to dip his finger in ink and ran out without committing to that, and a brigadier general in one of the security services refused to dip his finger in the ink, insisting that he was a brigadier general.
22. A noticeable number of polling stations where CEC's staff did not comply with filling out the illiterate polling forms. MUSAWA's monitors informed the officials of the violation, so they filled out the forms later than the time they should fill in the forms.
23. A polling station supervisor voted on behalf of two illiterate women despite the objections of electoral list agents and MUSAWA's monitor. The very same supervisor herself allowed people to enter the aisles of polling stations waving the banners and slogans of one of the electoral lists. MUSAWA called on the CEC to exclude the aforementioned supervisor from working in the two phases of polling and counting in the second phase of the local elections (the name of the supervisor and the polling center she supervised is preserved with MUSAWA).
24. A heavy crowd gathered in the polling station yards, which caused a number of female voters to abandon their ballots.
25. A voter claims that his name has been crossed out in the voter register, indicating that he voted even though he did not vote. The voter submitted a written complaint about that. MUSAWA hopes that the CEC will conduct a transparent investigation of the complaint and take the legal requirement regarding it as it involves an electoral crime if the facts are true.
26. The staff of the CEC in one of the local councils in Ramallah governorate left the polling station after the counting process was over and forgot some tools, equipment and papers belonging to the CEC inside the polling station. MUSAWA hopes that the CEC has investigated the incident and taken the administrative and legal requirements regarding it.
27. Ballot booths are made of short cardboard and are devoid of curtains, which affects the secrecy of the election, and the CEC staff in one of the polling stations did not ask voters to fold the ballot papers, which led to the deposit of some papers in the ballot box, revealing the name of the chosen list. MUSAWA hopes the CEC will take the necessary measures to overcome this in the second phase of the local elections.
28. Voters abstained from voting when they learned that their polling station was located on the second floor of the polling station.
29. Intense shooting in front of a polling station by masked men during the counting process, forcing the CEC's staff, list agents and monitors to move away from the polling station windows and disrupt the counting process.
30. The presence of more than a candidate and an agent of the same electoral list inside the polling stations.
31. The frequent entry and exit of the list observers affected the conduct of the electoral process in one of the polling stations. The agents justified their behavior by wanting to smoke.
32. A security man escorts his wife into the polling station while she is voting.
33. A woman is trying to vote for the second time, an observer drew the attention of the list agents, and they objected to this attempt, and after it was proven that she had previously voted without putting the electoral ink on her thumb, the staff of the CEC was content to prevent her from voting again, even though what she did constitutes an electoral crime. Another voter was trying to vote twice impersonating his brother, his attempt failed due to being discovered.
34. A representative of one of the lists instructs one of the illiterate women who came to vote unaccompanied to put an X on the image of the logo of his electoral list, which constitutes a violation of the electoral code of honor and the law.
35. The main outer door of a polling station was closed before seven o'clock and reopened after a brief intervention by the MUSAWA monitor and then closed again before seven o'clock.
36. Adopting a ballot paper devoid of the check and x signs and containing a scribble on the name of one of the lists.
37. A voter announced loudly inside the polling station which list he would vote for.
38. Ten voters asked their children to put a ballot sign on the ballot paper and put it in the box on their behalf, and in one case put electoral ink on a child's finger.
39. List agents wearing an institution's monitor cards.
40. Allowing two female voters to cast their votes even though they are not present in the polling station square or in front of the polling station, and despite reaching seven o'clock in the evening, which is the closing time of the boxes, which led to the extension of the voting period until after they reach the polling station and cast their votes at the request of one of the lists.
41. A security man enters a polling station during the counting process, claiming that his entry is to check on the station's condition and to ask if there is a need for him to be inside.
42. An election station official comes out of the polling station to announce the preliminary results to the people gathered in the center square, which delayed the closing of the polling stations, which was postponed until her return.
43. Provide a voter with two polling papers, one of which was returned after the error was discovered.
44. Some of the voters used to put a / sign instead of the ✓ or X signs, and some of them used a three-dashes sign, and a voter used two Xs on the same list, the committee staff approved those papers.
45. Discovery of a ballot paper that does not bear the official stamp of the CEC.
46. Voters demanded that polling day be considered an official holiday.

MUSAWA calls on the CEC, political parties and electoral lists to review its report with all its contents, address the contents of violations and abuses, abide by the rule of law and the electoral code of honor, and rehabilitate the CEC's staff in a manner that avoids the recurrence of abuses, violations and electoral crimes that were monitored and documented by the MUSAWA's monitoring team.

We hope that the second phase of the elections will be conducted in a manner free of irregularities and abuses. MUSAWA also hopes that the CEC will take the administrative and legal requirement to ensure that it exercises its powers to refer perpetrators of electoral crimes to the Public Prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the electoral legislation.

Enclosed:

• A list of the names of the monitors, their work, the polling stations they monitored, and the monitoring role played by each of them.
• MUSAWA's supervisory team's written reports and their corroboration are kept by the Center.

Copy to:

1. CEC,
2. UNDP.

To be published on MUSAWA's website, posted to Facebook page, and sent to the monitors and members of MUSAWA's General Assembly.