The President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has signed the presidential decree ordering the election to be held on May 10, 2012, to renew the membership of the People’s National Assembly (PNA).
Organic Law on the Electoral System, passed by both chambers of Parliament in November 2011, provides for convocation of electors within three months of the date of elections.
As stipulated in Article 188, “Except for instances called for in Articles 88 and 89 of the Constitution, the electoral campaign is declared open twenty-five (25) days prior to Election Day. It ends three (3) days prior to Election Day.”
“Applications for nomination must include the electoral program, which candidates are obligated to uphold during the electoral campaign (Article 191).”
The law seeks to increase practice of democracy by “enshrining transparency, the requirements for a free and honest choice by the people and to foster greater guarantees intended to strengthen the relation of trust between citizens, elected officials, and institutions.”
Provisions of the new law include namely supervision of the electoral process by magistrates, use of transparent ballot boxes, and delivery of ballot count reports to the representatives of party or independent candidates.
Provisions of the new law include supervision of the electoral process by a judge, safe custody of ballots, protection and safekeeping of fixed and mobile polling stations, and use of indelible ink (fingerprint equals one vote).
The organic law also allows electors without a voter’s card to exercise their right to vote, provided they are registered on the electoral list.
The legislation also provides for the creation of a national election monitoring commission composed of a permanent secretariat including national competences, representatives of political parties taking part in the election and representatives of independent candidates.
The law takes into consideration three factors, including the recognized possibility for political parties to submit candidates in all freedom, neutrality of the public powers and enforcement of some provisions to ensure ballot transparency.
Candidates, their representatives, and political parties can, by virtue of the law’s provisions, monitor any and all stages of the voting process and can appeal to judicial authorities in cases of misconduct.
The organic law views both remittance of ballot count reports and declaration of polling results in polling stations as an obligation.
Furthermore and in keeping with the Organic Law on Political Parties, 17 new political parties have been authorized by the Ministry of Interior and Local Governments to hold their respective constitutive conferences.
