TUNIS - Electors should have been initiated further to the operation of filling in the ballot papers before the Election Day in order to avoid any confusion in this operation.
During a news conference held Saturday in Tunis, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) specified that the fact of revealing the ballot papers to voters just the day before the poll that's October 22, and only on the Internet, had contributed to misleading many electors.
The ballot paper "is not a secret and should not be hidden," EU EOM Election expert Xavier Noc asserted in this regard.
A simple modification of the ballot paper's format would have been sufficient to prevent any attempt of fraud, he estimated.
The mission also recorded violations pertaining to the election operation. Mrs. Maria Espinosa, Deputy-Chief of European Observers, cited a number of infringements such as mistakes at the level of some tickets' logos, the absence of a ticket on a ballot paper or an error in the transcription of another ticket's name.
So far, 28 appeals have been filed to the Tunis administrative tribunal, which is the unique authority in charge of examining the appeals.
The deadline for appeals ends Saturday at 07.00 p.m. (local hour). The administrative tribunal should set a hearing in no more than 7 days from the date of lodging appeals and summon by all means, leaving a written record, all stakeholders to present their conclusions, according to the Tribunal.
The administrative tribunal will announce its verdict in the maximum of 3 days, notify its decision in a maximum of 2 days, then the Independent Higher Authority for the Elections (IHAE) will proclaim the final results.
Mrs. Maria Espinosa reasserted the importance of the observation mission which had "never been dispatched before," pointing out that EU EOM will remain in Tunisia to follow up the post-election phase.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2011
