Sun Network & ACHRS Final Report for Monitoring the Registration of Voters in all Iraqi Governorates
Preamble:
Sun Network for Monitoring Elections is a voluntary gathering of civil society institutions. It has been established in 2004 by 113 organizations, associations and unions. It executed the monitoring of elections in the last year and the general referendum on the constitution in 2005 through deploying 3328 monitors in all the Iraqi governorates. In its new project, Sun Network has announced that it will monitor the whole upcoming election cycle (Monitoring of the issuance of election laws, election committee regulations and orders, voters’, electorates’ and candidates’ registration, the election campaigns and their funding, the election day, counting of votes and campaign promise.
At the conclusion of every monitoring process, cyclical and final reports will be issued concerning the most salient point regarding the progress and the extent of the success of the election process based on international standards.
To implement this monitoring process, 2000 monitors were trained in the first stage. More than 3000 monitors were already included in the human power resources of the network supported by a large number of trainers and highly experienced and skilled monitors and trainers some of who conducted monitoring of elections in other countries like Germany, Poland, Yemen Republic, and Jordan.
The registered monitors at the Independent High Commission for Election in Iraq, started the process in August 15, 2008. They began monitoring the registration process in (65) centers of voters’ registration in all the Iraqi governorates on daily and continuous bases. In (102) additional centers, the monitors oversaw voters’ registration by conducting cyclical visits, besides (49) visits were paid in companions of the High Commission’s mobile teams. Overall the total number of the registration centers monitored by the Networks’ monitors was (167) centers and (49) mobile teams in all the Iraqi governorates.
The monitors where distributed according to a mechanism put in place by the Managing Board of the Sun Network for Monitoring Elections. Based on that mechanism, each voter registration center will be monitored by a team on daily bases. 3 cyclical reports will be issues covering the whole process and a final report at the conclusion of the voter registration process. Sun Network was obliged to choose a registered organization in each governorate to lead the monitoring process. The network had to do that because of the difficulties arising as a result of legal hurdles facing the registration of monitors in the Independent High Commission of Election, and in order to start the monitoring process at the specified time.
The office of the Independent High Commission of Election was approached after the partner organizations in the corresponding governorates prepared the necessary information and official required documents (licensing of the organization, and the application form of the registration of the monitoring.
