Commonwealth EOM recommends fixed election date; Code of Conduct
The report is a follow up to the preliminary report that the mission had submitted days following the elections which saw the National Democratic Party (NDP) annihilating the Virgin Islands Party and others in what turned out to be 11 to 2 in favour of the incumbent NDP.
Fixed-term Parliaments
The Mission said that to avoid any unfair advantage or undue influence in the timing of an election, consideration should be given to introducing legislation on Fixed-term Parliaments, which would fix the timing of elections (i.e. every four or five years). “This would in turn allow all parties and candidates, as well as those involved in the administration of an election, the appropriate time and awareness to prepare accordingly,” the report said. “This would also ensure that the electorate could plan any business or leisure trips out of the country at a time that would not conflict with an election date,” it said.
Code of Conduct
The report said that to reduce the level of negative campaigning “comprising of personal attacks and accusations,” candidates and parties should be required to sign a ‘Code of Conduct’ for the duration of an election campaign, whereby they commit to a respectful and clean issues-based campaign.
“This would heighten the level of real discussion and debate during an election campaign and would encourage the electorate to have a higher regard for the candidates they are selecting to represent them in government,” said the report.
Election Administration
According to the report, there is a need for the creation of a permanent independent Elections Commission to provide adequate democratic oversight of the Office of the Supervisor of the Elections and “thus add a further layer of public accountability. Such a Commission would provide clarity over the complaints process which is currently in the remit of the Complaints Commissioner, the Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions, the Governor and the Deputy Governor.”
It said that such a Commission may reduce questions over partisanship within the Elections Office or appointments processes and give additional political momentum over necessary election reforms within election years, “which an Official alone may not achieve.”
In addition, the report said that due to the security requirements for storing ballot boxes and more importantly the sealing of ballots for the advance polls, “the Election Supervisor expressed concern that the office is not fit for purpose and a larger, more secure facility be sought.”
Legal Framework
The report said that in addition to consolidating the various statutes into a single piece of legislation for increased clarity, the law should also be amended “to include the establishment, registration and regulation” of political parties.
On the question of campaign financing, the report said that to level the playing field between candidates and parties competing in an election, campaign finance regulations should be introduced “to provide clear guidelines and limits on how much an individual or business can contribute to a candidate and/or party’s political campaign during an election period.” It said that transparency is needed in the amount a candidate or party spends throughout an election campaign which should be regularly reported and published.
“Penalties should be imposed on those candidates or parties who do not respect the regulations in place,” the report recommended.
In a comment to this news site today September 11, 2015, Supervisor of Elections Juliette Penn said that she has not fully studied the document. She said, however, it is up to the Government to act on the recommendations made by the Commonwealth Mission.
See link to previous story here: http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/elections-act-was-breached-commonwealth-observers
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