Election Media Center inaugurated and IFES makes recommendations [Archives:2006/977/Front Page]
By: Yasser Al-Mayasi
SANA'A, Aug. 30 ) The new Election Media Center's will assure information flows to all mass media, whether national, Arab or international, according to the Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum,
The Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum (SCER) says information flow will involve two sectors: the media and relations sector and the security committee, which will report all field incidents.
They also emphasized that the SCER will commit to conducting transparent and fair elections and assist the information flow at all levels via its means and mechanisms across the republic. “Transparency will be present and there will be no reservation,” Khalid Al-Shareef, chairman of the SCER, assured.
He also called upon journalists to commit to professional ethics and report with credibility and impartiality, warning that publishing false information may cause many problems.
Al-Shareef pointed out that the electoral process's security and stability not only lies with the work of the security committee, but also with media and journalism.
He called on all private and partisan newspapers to pay more attention to electoral awareness because they participate in treating the shortcomings of electoral awareness and assist voters in exercising their political rights, considering awareness to be one of the tools enabling them to make right decisions.
In related news, the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) in Yemen proposed numerous suggestions aimed at supporting the elections and making them a great success.
IFES assured that the upcoming presidential and local elections require adopting advanced techniques and procedures, hinting that the absence of such techniques might affect the elections.
Other recommendations included training electoral committees, particularly subcommittees, in how to work before, during and after election day.
IFES also recommended training security forces and establishing their work agenda during the electoral process, as well as suggesting that the SCER impose its own authorities to prevent the intervention of security forces.
The foundation also stressed the importance of requiring electoral committee members to accompany security forces throughout all voting phases, especially when transporting ballot boxes.
Recommendations further included checking all printing houses, storage systems and transportation to ensure their sufficiency, as well as manually counting photocopied ballots.
IFES also suggested inventorying all materials to be transported and delivered. It asserted that SCER employees should work impartially to ensure the contents of such materials prior to handing them over, as well as ensure that a safe local storehouse exists for ballot boxes not counted before.
Additionally, IFES demanded that SCER employees monitor all phases involving photocopying, cutting and distributing ballots, as well as calling observers to attend the ballot production process.
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