Facts about Cyprus election system

The statement by Taner Erginel, president of the Higher Election Board of the KKTC, on Dec. 9 is as follows:

There is less than a week left for the elections to be held on 14th December. We would like to share the latest information and evaluations with our public.

In our previous declarations, we have explained the views of the Electoral Board and pointed out its principles. In order to better explain our views today, it would be useful to rehash our previous statements.

Those who would like to have a look at the past declarations and announcements of the Supreme Electoral Board can check the election information section of the Supreme Court web site at www.mahkemeler.net

Impartiality
Article 69 of our Constitution and the Election and Referendum Law mandates elections be held and inspected under the direct supervision of the judges. The courts are the most independent and impartial organ in the country. By authorizing the judges, the Constitution aims to achieve impartial elections that do not leave any ground for suspicion. We have been making all kinds of efforts in order to hold an election in line with this goal.

An exemplary election
It is natural that the political parties are engaged in an effort to win the elections. As to the validity of the election, there are different points of views. We would like to emphasize that the result of the elections is not our concern. Because the Supreme Electoral Court stands at an equal distance from all parties. In order to understand the approach of the Supreme Electoral Board and the District Electoral Board, it is useful to know this issue very well.

We will show respect to any party or view which wins the elections. However, it should definitely be known that we are absolutely against any suspicion overshadowing the elections and we assume that it is our duty to hold a just and exemplary election. We believe that the people of KKTC are sophisticated enough to hold such an election. For this reason we have been and will be taking precautions against any event which might influence the elections. We should investigate the issues that might skew our elections one-by-one.

Who can be an elector?
There are some that think that only the native Cypriots should possess the right to vote instead of all KKTC citizens. We have explained that the people who are eligible to vote were determined by the Elections & Referandum Law numbered 5/76, approved in 1976, and that we obliged to apply this law and that the discussions regarding the changing of this law should be addressed to the Legislative Assembly instead of the Supreme Electoral Board. In any case, such a claim should not be handled immedietly before the elections, but should be discussed in the Legislative Assembly at the proper time. We think that our view on this issue is clear enough and therefore there is no possibility of this reason over-shadowing the elections.

New citizens
The fact that many people were granted citizenship just before the elections caused lots of complaints and created concerns that the elections will be over shadowed. The Supreme Electoral Board which is a totally independent organ has taken some measures to prevent any tampering with the elections. At this point it is useful to emphasize one issue. The issue of whether the granting of citizenship is right or wrong, legal or illegal does not concern us. Because, the Supreme Electoral Board is not authorized to deal with this issue. Without taking into consideration whether it was right or wrong, we evaluated the issue from the point of timing and image, and tried to take measures in order to prevent the overshadowing of the elections. Therefore, we decided to hold the elections in an un-precedentedly transparent environment. Besides providing all the information to the political parties we also opened it for public scrutiny. We also urged our people not to behave passively and to participate in the inspection process of the elections.

As we all know, it is not sufficient to be a citizen to be eligible for voting. In addition to being a citizen, it is necessary to reside in that particular voting district. We can state with satisfaction that the inspection process of the elections has been carried out carefully, especially during the period when the election lists were made public, by the political parties and our people and there were objections to those who did not reside in certain electoral district but were included in the lists, or those who applied to be included in that list.

The District Electoral Boards, in a meticulous fashion, have decided to remove those who do not reside in the KKTC from the lists. Therefore the possibility of the elections being unfair because of the new citizens is eliminated. In spite of these, if there are still some mistakes it is clear that the responsibility belongs to those who did not further object and remained silent.

In order to prevent the over-shadowing of the elections on Nov.25 2003, we explained to those who did not find the above guarantee as sufficient that all the records are still open, that those who wish to further investigate could still continue to do so, and that they would detect those recent citizens who were included in the lists and that in case of voting in defiance of the law, the case could be taken to the Higher Administrative Court. There is no reason for this investigation not to be continued after the elections. That is to say that the information we have will always remain available to the public and it will also be possible to investigate them after the elections. For those who would like to make a claim, we provide them the opportunity to investigate and find out if there are any mistakes. It is clear that we have done our best to prevent the over-shadowing of the elections by the new citizens and we can say that this possibility is totally eliminated.

Election propaganda
What is important during the election period is that all political parties have the opportunity to explain their views to the public without confrontation. The Supreme Electoral Board has tried to allow the political parties to make propaganda freely, but in an orderly fashion. There were incidents that were the subjects of complaint during the elections. These are inevitable incidents in every election. However we can see that all of the political parties are discussing their views in a politically mature environment, and that these views are known by our people and evaluated continuously. This situation proves that the goal of the election is realized.

The prevention of invalid votes during the elections
We have taken measures to prevent invalid votes. How to vote in the elections is explained in detail in Article 101 of the Election and Referandum Law numbered 5/76. Those who wish can inspect the Article on our internet page. In addition to this, we have prepared instructions which explain the method of voting in simple wording so that every citizen can understand it easily. Here, we are distributing these instructions which are prepared in Question and Answer format. We kindly request that these instructions be published in the newspapers if possible. Those who wish, can obtain it from the District Electoral Boards and distribute it to the public. It will be beneficial especially if the political parties pursue this issue so that they can prevent their supporters from wasting their votes by voting incorrectly.

The prevention of fraud during the elections
In order to eliminate the possibility of over-shadowing in the elections, we should not allow any kind of fraud. Our Election Law is regulated in a way that does not allow fraud in the elections. For this reason, the Law prescribes that one representative from each party is designated as an observer to be present in the election boards and at the polling stations. Despite this law there were complaints in the past that voters put blank papers in the ballot box; took the ballots home; and sold them. In order to prevent such an eventuality, an amendment was made in the law in 1994 and the votes are cast after being folded openly and showing the stamps to the Ballot Board instead of casting it within an envelope. The 1998, 2000 and 2001 elections were conducted this way. In these elections, there was no evidence of this type of fraud. However there were still allegations of fraud. These concerns are still present most probably because the people recall the pre-1994 law and the incidents of the past. For fraud to take place in the elections with the present regulations, the party representatives and observers would need to act with great carelessness and indifference, which we believe will not happen.

We are informed of the possibility of fraud by use of mobile phones with cameras. Therefore we prohibit entering voting cabins with mobile phones and cameras.

In this connection any information that will be brought to our attention that indicates the possibility of fraud, we will try to prevent this kind of activity. We believe that with the cooperation of all political parties and the electorate we can completely remove any act of fraud that may arise.

Objections on election day
The persons that are designated by the political parties carry the responsibility of assuring that right and fair elections are held throughout the entire election process. Our electoral laws and regulations are very clear on that issue. For this reason, the Supreme Election Board did not find it sufficient to have one designated representative from each political party, and therefore in addition to that we suggested that the political parties to accredit observers in each polling station. We have warned all political parties to be very selective when accrediting representatives and observers at the election boards and to accredit experts and hardworking persons as the representatives and observers of the political parties. Observers of the political parties should object immediately of any irregularities they might see at the polling stations. In case of refusal, they should apply to the district electoral boards if it is absolutely necessary to have a decision at that moment. If it is not urgent they can put on record their objections at the district election boards later.

The counting procedure starts and continues without delay immediately after the voting ends at 6:00 p.m. At this stage, observers should object to any invalid vote they might see and in case of refusal, they have to put this on record. Observers and the representatives of political parties should not leave polling stations until the counting and verification process is completed and on record. Observers can raise their objections on voting counting and verification procedure at the District Electoral Boards until the next day of the elections at 5:00 p.m.

Our election law and regulations enable objections to be raised to extraordinary situations outside the time period given an adequate excuse. However with the technological improvements in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, this excuse has never been used. For this reason we would like to bring to the attention of all political parties that objections should be made within the allowed time period.

Observers and conference
We have invited all those who wish to come and observe our elections and we also invited them to join a conference which we plan to arrange in the last week of January 2004. In this conference we wish to analyze our election and our electoral system and compare it to the electoral systems of other countries. We stated that we shall be pleased to have our electoral system analyzed. Some observers have left after their inspection was completed and they have stated that our electoral system is much more democratic and fair than their electoral system. Our aim is to find out the best electoral system. We welcome research on this subject to try to discover the best method. To find out the most ideal electoral system and the best method that will enable us to reflect public opinion will be beneficial to every country. We would like to channel the great interest shown to the benefit of all and we believe that we can contribute to building better democracies.