HTML clipboard

Ref: 43/2005

Date: 13 March 2005

PCHR Publishes Evaluation Report of Monitoring over Palestinian Local Elections in the Gaza Strip

On Sunday, 13 March 2005, PCHR published its evaluation report of monitoring over elections of 10 local councils in the Gaza Strip, which were held on 27 January 2005 completing the first stage of local elections that included 36 local councils in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

The report is the product of monitoring conducted by PCHR over the whole electoral process. The start of the report records PCHR’s role in monitoring over local elections. The report then details technical preparations at polling centers. It also focuses on the opening and closing of polling, between which it highlights the polling process.  The report then moves to the counting of votes at polling station and the transfer of the protocols of counting to the executive office of elections. The report also refers to cases brought before the Higher Committee for Local Elections. 

PCHR published it preliminary evaluation of these elections on 28 January 2005, the day that followed the elections themselves. According to preliminary conclusions of monitoring, which amounted to a comprehensive survey of all polling stations, the elections took place peacefully and impressively, reflecting a highly organized process.  In its preliminary evaluation, PCHR highly appreciated the efforts made to ensure success for these elections, especially the role played by the Higher Committee for Local Elections to organize these elections, and the role played by local and international observers in monitoring these elections. 

Conclusions of the preliminary evaluation do not vary from those of PCHR’s final report as PCHR concludes that the elections took place peacefully, fairly and successfully in the polling stations. Though there were a number of violations documented by PCHR observers, these violations did not damage the essential fairness of the elections. In the conclusion, PCHR requests that its observations be noted in order to avoid any similar violations in the next set of local elections.

“END”

Public Document

**************************************

For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 – 2825893

PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: [email protected], Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org