Al Gomhuria, p.5, (25-1-2007)

 

By: Mohammed Ali Ibrahim

 

According to the electoral system in Egypt, each ballot box is to be controlled by one judge. Also, we are the only country where elections are conducted over a period of three months. There are 3 models of election commissions in the world. None of them state that a judge is appointed for each ballot box. These 3 models are as follows:

 

The first model is based on independent commissions whose members are not of state officials. These commissions have independent budgets. This model is applied in India, South Africa, Indonesia, Australia, Canada and Georgia.

 

The second model is based on governmental commissions. According this model, one ministry – like the ministry of interior or the ministry of local government – controls the elections. The election commission budget comes from the concerned ministry budget under the control of the cabinet. This model is applied in Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and Tunisia.

 

The third model is a blended model comprising two parts: one part controls the elections, like in the independent-commission model, and the other undertakes the executive tasks, like in the governmental-commission model. This model is applied in France, Japan, Spain, Senegal and Mali. Nobody can claim that France and Spain are totalitarian countries.

 

Election commissions can also be classified either as permanent or temporary. Countries having permanent election commissions include South Africa, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, Philippines and Australia. These commissions have wide-ranging powers, be it before, during or after the election period. On the other hand, the temporary commissions is defectively operative only during the election period. Such commissions exist in Russia, Romania and Georgia.

 

Forming the election commission

 

Some countries – like the emerging democracies in east Europe – form the election commission according to the percentage of party representation in the parliament. Other countries – like Australia, India, Canada, Indonesia and Poland – form their election commissions of judiciary, legal or public figures.

 

India, the world’s largest democracy, does not apply an election system appointing one judge for each ballot box. The Indian election commission has 3 public figures as members and they are esteemed in rank as constitutional court judges. In Spain, the commission has 13 members including 8 judges and 5 public figures. In Spain, the election commission has 15 public figures and in Congo, it has 21 public and legal figures. Hence, in all these commissions, the members are not altogether of judges.

 

India, the best example

 

The Indian election commission is formed, according to the law, by the President of the Republic. Decisions of the commission are passed by majority vote. The commission has a secretariat in New Delhi and an independent budget. Yet, most of election costs are paid by the Union and State Governments.

 

When I met the former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998, I asked him about the “miracle” of voting in India where 750 million Indians of about 22 languages, 17 religions and 29 states voted over a period of 7 to 10 days. With a smile on his face, he answered: “There is no miracle. Our people are politically and democratically well-informed.” I got his point. The problem in Egypt is that we talk, but do not practice. Some voices were raised objecting to the proposed system of taking all votes on one day, without even knowing the benefits of this system.

 

Voter turnout is 25%. These voters cannot make a change. We need to raise the turnout to 70%. Only then can voters keep a government serving them in power or topple another that is working against them.

 

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