The leadership of IPA CIS IIMDD participates in the 16th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies

On 27-28 June 2019, the 16th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies is being held in Bratislava (Slovak Republic), which participated, by more than one hundred representatives from 29 countries. The event was organized by the European Commission for democracy through the law of the Europe Council (Venice Commission), Public Administration Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic and State Commission for Elections and Control of Financing of Political Parties in the Slovak Republic. IPA CIS Council Secretariat was represented at the conference by the Acting Director of IPA CIS IIMDD Ekaterina Goloulina.

The keynote of the conference is “Election Dispute Resolution”. The participants of the conference focused on issues of the interaction of the judicial authorities with the election administration authorities in the context of the settlement of electoral disputes, discuss the grievance procedures.

At the opening ceremony, Chairman of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio addressed the participants with a complimentary speech. He noted the importance of compliance of legislation in the electoral process and also highlighted the importance of monitoring legislation and the work of international team of observers during the elections.

Then the conference continued in the format of working sessions. Ekaterina Goloulina participated in the working session on procedural aspects of EDR. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the United Mexican States and the Republic of Korea.

The report of the Armenian CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan on the abuse of the right to appeal during the election campaign attracted the serious attention of the participants. Belarus CEC Secretary Elena Dmuhailo highlighted that the avalanche growth of template complaints immediately after the day of voting is used as a political, not a human-rights tool.

The second plenary session was devoted to practical issues of the activities of the judicial authorities at various levels in the consideration of electoral disputes and precedents that arising in the course of judicial procedures. It began with the report of the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional court of the Slovak Republic, member of the Venice Commission Yvette Macejkova.

At the meeting of the working session Decision-making power regarding EDR Ekaterina Goloulina reported on IPA CIS EDR: optimization process (based on the conclusions of the IPA CIS IIMDD).

During the discussion, Head of the Azerbaijani CEC Secretariat Rovzat Gasimov noted that the work with the Venice Commission has significantly improved the situation in the electoral sphere, and the number of complaints has significantly reduced.

At the end of the day, the participants summed up the interim results of the discussions in the working sessions. On 28 June, the final session will discuss and adopt the conclusions of the 16th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies.