iraq - a reporter’s guide to election coverage

8/3/2019 Iraq - A Reporters Guide to Election Coverage

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A Reporters Guideto Election Coverage


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Te contents of this file can be updated at intervals to take account of changingdevelopments.See webworld.unesco.org/download/fed/iraqor www.indexonline.org.

International News Safety Institute (INSI)International Press CentreResidence Palace, Block C

rue de la LoiB- BrusselsBelgiumel: + Fax: + www.newssafety.comIndex on Censorship- Amwell StreetLondon

United Kingdomel: + Fax: + www.indexonline.org

Editors noteTis publication is the work of several organizations and many individuals. Te opinions expressed arethose of the authors alone. Tey are not necessarily shared by other partners in this project, including theUNESCO, the United Nations and its agencies.


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About these

documentsIntroduction

Tis folder contains the first editions of what willbecome a regularly updated package of documentscovering the election process in Iraq. New editions

will be made available on a regular basis. Te sys-tem is simple. As new sections are published and

distributed, just remove the out-of-date sectionand replace it with the new one.

Te new inserts will be made available across Iraq,at selected press conferences and eventually, direct

to newspapers, broadcasters and anyone activelyinvolved with the media in Iraq. Te inserts canalso be downloaded from the web, as PDF files,easily reprinted and cut to fit the folders.

Most often they will be distributed at future train-ing events and media seminars planned for Iraqduring . Tis is the year that Iraq takes charge

of its destiny. Tere will be a new parliament, anew constitution, a referendum and another elec-tion. It is the task of Iraqs journalists to reporton these events, to understand them, track themand represent them fairly and professionally tothe Iraqi people.

Iraqs journalists have another duty - to activelyparticipate in the process of establishing a legalframework for the media as it carries out its duties.One of the new governments first tasks will be toreview the media law in Iraq, to draft election rules

that will affect the way the media does its job.

No government - especially one under as muchpressure as Iraqs - will easily give up influence over

the media. Journalists will have to work hard toensure that their rights are preserved. Tey cando this by making sure their voice is heard in thedebates on media rights that will run through .Tis folder will contain some of the evidence andthe arguments that need to be made.

Te training courses and seminars planned aspart of this project will cover basic issues suchas reporting skills and election news coverage

techniques. But it will also raise a debate about thejournalists role in society and his or her profes-sional duties. It will also reinforce the case thatfairness and professionalism by the Iraqi mediamust be matched by fairness and professionalismon the part of government - particularly in termsof regulation and access to information.

Freedom of expression, including the constitu-

tional right to receive and impart information, is aprerequisite for free and fair democratic elections.In order to enable citizens to make informeddemocratic choices, media representatives have aheightened responsibility to provide accurate andimpartial information to the public during electionperiods. Media representatives play an essentialrole in the democratic process. It is imperativethat they be afforded the highest level of access toelection-related events, access to information, and

protection from all forms of harassment and/orintimidation as reasonably possible during theelection campaign period.

1From the International Organisation for Migration Media

Code of Conduct.

A Reporters Guide to Election Coverage


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Further information

http://webworld.unesco.org/download/fed/iraqor http://www.indexonline.orgor contact UNESCO in the Middle East

UNESCO in Beirut and regional bureau foreducationel: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]: http://www.unesco.org.lb

UNESCO in Cairo and Regional Bureau forScienceel: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]: http://www.unesco-cairo.org

UNESCO Office in Doha

el: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]: http://www.unesco.org/doha

UNESCO Office in Rabatel: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]

UNESCO Office in Ammanel: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]

UNESCO Office in Ramallahel: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]

UNESCO Office for Iraq (temporarilyhoused at the UNESCO Office in Amman,

Jordan)el: + Fax: + Email: [email protected]

A Reporters Guide to Election Coverage


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Journalist safety: Guidelines

Journalist Safety:

GuidelinesObjectives

Support and develop safety programmes forall news media workers on a global and locallevel

Encourage agreements on health and safetymatters between employers and staff

Disseminate information through practicaltraining, advisories and literature

Promote industry best practice for training,equipment and field work

Investigate, develop and promote safety serv-ices including affordable insurance

Establish a global network of organisationscommitted to risk-reduction

Sponsor awareness-raising initiatives at media

events

Te INSI Code

. Te preservation of life and safety is para-mount. Staff and freelances equally shouldbe made aware that unwarranted risks in pur-

suit of a story are unacceptable and stronglydiscouraged. News organisations are urged

to consider safety first, before competitiveadvantage.

. Assignments to war and other danger zonesmust be voluntary and only involve experi-enced news gatherers and those under theirdirect supervision. No career should suffer as

a result of refusing a dangerous assignment.Editors at base or journalists in the field may

decide to terminate a dangerous assignmentafter proper consultation with one another.

. All journalists and media staff must receiveappropriate hostile environment and riskawareness training before being assigned toa danger zone. Employers are urged to makethis mandatory.

. Employers should ensure before assignmentthat journalists are fully up to date on thepolitical, physical and social conditions pre-vailing where they are due to work and areaware of international rules of armed conflict

as set out in the Geneva Conventions andother key documents of humanitarian law.

. Employers must provide efficient safetyequipment and medical and health safeguards

appropriate to the threat to all staff and free-lances assigned to hazardous locations.

. All journalists should be afforded personalinsurance while working in hostile areas,including cover against personal injury and

death. Tere should be no discriminationbetween staff and freelances.. Employers should provide free access to con-

fidential counselling for journalists involvedin coverage of distressing events. Tey should

train managers in recognition of post trau-matic stress, and provide families of journalists

in danger areas with timely advice on thesafety of their loved-ones.

. Journalists are neutral observers. No member

of the media should carry a firearm in thecourse of their work.

. Governments and all military and securityforces are urged to respect the safety of jour-nalists in their areas of operation, whetheror not accompanying their own forces. Teymust not restrict unnecessarily freedom ofmovement or compromise the right of the


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news media to gather and disseminate in-formation.

. Security forces must never harass, intimidateor physically attack journalists going abouttheir lawful business.

Steps for Safety

. Be physically and mentally prepared. Go ona Hostile Environment course that includesbasic first aid training before your assignment

if at all possible.. Most conflict zones require an ability at least

to run, hike and endure discomfort. Ensureappropriate jabs and carry basic medical kitwith clean needles. Wear internationally rec-ognised bracelet with caduceus symbol andrecord of allergies, blood group etc.

. Know the background of the people and placeof assignment and of the dispute. Learn a few

useful phrases in the local language, most es-sentially foreign press or journalist. Knowthe meaning of local gestures that might beimportant.

. Do not move alone in a conflict zone. If travel-ling by road, use a safe and responsible driverwith knowledge of terrain and trouble spots.Identify your vehicle as media unless thatwould attract attack. ravel in close convoyif possible. Do not use military or military-

type vehicles unless accompanying a regulararmy patrol. Make sure your vehicle is sound,

with plenty of fuel. In hot conditions checktyre pressures regularly as a blow-out can bedisastrous.

. Seek the advice of local authorities and resi-dents about possible dangers before travel-ling. Check the road immediately ahead atsafe intervals. Inform your headquarters and

colleagues remaining at base of where youare going, your intended EA and expected

return. Check in frequently. Beware of car-rying maps with markings that might beconstrued as military.

. Meet unfamiliar contacts in public places and

tell your office or trusted colleague your plans.ry not to go alone into potential danger.Plan a fast and safe way out before you entera danger zone.

. Never carry a weapon or travel with journalists

who do. Be prudent in taking pictures. Seek

the agreement of soldiers before shootingimages. Know local sensitivities about pic-ture-taking.

. Carry picture identification. Do not pretendto be other than a journalist. Identify yourselfclearly if challenged. If working on both sides

of a front line never give information to oneside about the other.

. Carry cigarettes and other giveaways as sweet-

eners. Stay calm and try to appear relaxedif troops or locals appear threatening. Actfriendly and smile.

. Carry emergency funds and a spare copy ofyour ID in a concealed place such as a moneybelt. Have a giveaway amount ready to handover.

. Keep emergency phone numbers at hand,programmed into satellite and mobile phones,with a key / number on speed dial if

possible. Know the location of hospitals andtheir capabilities.

. Familiarise with weapons commonly usedin the conflict, their ranges and penetratingpower so you can seek out the most effectivecover. Know incoming from outgoing. Knowwhat landmines and other ordnance look like.

Do not handle abandoned weapons or spentmunitions.


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. Wear civilian clothes unless accredited as a warcorrespondent and required to wear special

dress. Avoid paramilitary-type clothing. Avoidcarrying shiny objects and exercise care withlenses. Reflections of bright sunlight can look

like gun flashes.. Be prepared to wear flak jackets, body armour,

helmets, gas masks and NBC apparel as ap-propriate. For demonstrations, use morediscreet gear such as hardened baseball-typehats and light undergarment protection.

. Know your rights, internationally and locally.

Know the Geneva Conventions as they relateto civilians in war zones.

. Journalists who have endured high dangerand witnessed dreadful events may experi-

ence traumatic stress in later weeks. Do notbe embarrassed to seek counselling.

An Indxon Cnsorshipmedia rights seminar inBaghdad in May . (Index/Rohan Jayasekera)


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Journalists & media workerskilled in Iraq during

. Duraid Isa Mohammed, producer andtranslator, CNN - January

. Yasser Khatab, driver, CNN - January. Haymin Mohamed Salih, Qulan V -

February. Ayoub Mohamed, Kurdistan V -

February. Gharib Mohamed Salih, Kurdistan V

- February. Semko Karim Mohyideen, freelance -

February. Abdel Sattar Abdel Karim, al-aakhi -

February. Safir Nader, Qulan V - February. Ali Al-Khatib, Al-Arabiya - March. Ali Abdel Aziz, Al-Arabiya - March. Nadia Nasrat, Diyala elevision -

March. Majid Rachid, technician, Diyala elevi-sion - March

. Mohamad Ahmad, security agent, Diyalaelevision - March

. Bourhan Mohammad al-Louhaybi, ABCNews - March

. Omar Hashim Kamal, translator, ime- March

. Assad Kadhim, Al-Iraqiya V - April

. Hussein Saleh, driver, Al-Iraquiya V - April

. Mounir Bouamrane, VP - May. Waldemar Milewicz, VP - May. Rachid Hamid Wali, cameraman assistant,

Al-Jazira - May. Unknown, translator - May. Kotaro Ogawa, Nikkan Gendai - May

. Shinsuke Hashida, Nikkan Gendai - May

. Unknown, translator - May. Mahmoud Ismael Daood, bodyguard, Al-

Sabah al-Jadid - May. Samia Abdeljabar, driver, Al-Sabah al-Jadid

- May. Sahar Saad Eddine Nouami, Al-Hayat Al-

Gadida - June. Mahmoud Hamid Abbas, ZDF - Au-

gust. Hossam Ali, freelance. - August

. Jamal awfiq Salmane, Gazeta Wyborcza- August

. Enzo Baldoni, Diario della settimana - August

. Mazen al-omaizi, Al-Arabiya - Septem-ber

. Ahmad Jassem, Nivive television - Octo-ber

. Dina Mohamad Hassan, Al Hurriya elevi-

sion - October. Karam Hussein, European Pressphoto Agency- October

. Liqaa Abdul-Razzaq, Al-Sharqiya - Oc-tober

. Dhia Najim, Reuters - November

Reporters sans Frontires


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Iraq votes: A review

Iraq Votes:

A reviewTe January election

On January Iraqis voted for parties contestingseats in the Iraqi National Assembly, a -seatparliament called to serve as a transitional bodyuntil elections for a fully fledged assembly under a

new constitution are held in December .

Tere were no voting districts - just a single coun-try-wide election. Tis option was supportedby the UN - advisors to the process - because itwas thought easier to organise than drawing upelectoral districts based on Iraqs cultures andethnicities, though they did endorse a separateballot for provincial councils in Iraqs regionalgovernorates.

In Iraqs Kurdish region, there was a third bal-lot for the Kurdish National Parliament, withspecial arrangements for the disputed northerncity of Kirkuk. Expatriates in countries wereallowed to vote in the parliamentary polls only.On election day a reported , polling centresopened throughout Iraqs governorates. Te first

provisional results are due to be announced by February by the Independent Electoral Commis-

sion of Iraq (IECI), established by the U.S.-runCoalition Provisional Authority in May .

All Iraqis born on or before December wereeligible to vote, provided they could prove theircitizenship. Iraq has no current official census,so voters were registered through ration cardsused during the sanctions years for the UN oil-for-food programme, which began in . Tere

were roughly , candidates running for the

National Assembly seats and , for seats on

the regional legislatures, but Iraqis did not votefor individuals or specific parties in the traditionalsense. Instead they picked from one of listsof combined party groups and factions certifiedby the IECI.

Te parties picked the order in which their can-didates names appeared on their own lists. Tiswas important as seats were allocated to lists inproportion to the percentage of votes the list

collected on election day first names first sothe higher up the list, the higher the chance thecandidate would get a seat. Every third candidatein the order on the list had to be a woman.

Most of the campaigners called on supporters tovote for the number of the list, rather than thename. On the day voters ticked off their choice oflist from a ballot paper with the name, number,

and identifying logos of the lists. A lotterydetermined the order in which list names ap-peared on the ballot.

Once convened the newly elected National As-sembly must then elect an Iraqi president and two

deputies a trio making up a Presidency Councilthat will represent Iraq abroad and oversee therunning of the country. Te Presidency Councilwill be responsible for naming the prime minister

and for approving ministerial appointments.

Te National Assembly will immediately be taskedto draft a permanent Iraqi constitution by August. Te constitution should be ratified bythe Iraqi people in a general referendum by October. If it fails to do this, it can extend theprocess for another six months. If a constitutionis not ratified by then, its mandate will expire, and


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fresh elections will be held for a new assemblythat will start the process again.

But If the constitution is ratified according toschedule in October, Iraqis will elect a permanentgovernment no later than December. Tat gov-ernment should assume office by December.

Te role of the ElectoralCommission

Te elections are organised by the IndependentElectoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), established

by the US-run Coalition Provisional Authorityin May . Te Commission is run by a nine-member Board of Commissioners, which includes

seven voting members who are Iraqi citizens, andtwo non-voting members.

Te two non-voting members are the chief electoralofficer, an Iraqi, and the Colombian UN expertCarlos Valenzuela, a veteran of previous UNelection missions. Te UN selected the IECImembership from , applications short-listedto . Te Iraqi Commission members were senton a three week training course in Mexico bythe UN.

Tirty other UN election specialists provided

technical expertise to a staff of about , Iraqielection clerks and monitors. Tese teams facedsevere violence, including a December ambushin central Baghdad, in which three were killed.Te US army reported that virtually every elec-tion worker in Nineveh province, which includespredominantly Arab Sunni Mosul, quit before the

election because of security fears.

Tere were other resignations reported in severalother cities, though the Commission frequently

disputed or dismissed reports, or claimed thatthe staff who had resigned had been promptlyreplaced.

Voting papers were printed in Switzerland toavoid counterfeiting and centres established ineach of the provinces to collate results beforesending them on to Baghdad.

Te better than expected turnout and the relatively

limited scale of the threatened insurgent assaulton the process reflected well on the IECI. Itsperformance was not without its critics amongboth Iraqi & international media. IECI spokes-man Farid Ayar was reported to be in dispute with

the commission membership in the days beforethe vote, while on the day his delivery of interimturnout results to the media was confusing somesaid unintentionally misleading.

Te process itself did not appear flawless. Somepolling stations in the so-called hot areas didnot open when insufficient numbers of electionworkers turned up to run them. On the dayAyar said that voters in these areas could voteat other stations, without saying where or howthey could be reached with regional travel soheavily restricted.

As with the turnout figures, the commissions tallyof polling stations that opened as planned on

January seemed over-estimated, given the flow ofmedia reports from the field, including Samarra,the oil refinery town of Beiji and Baghdads mainlyIraqi Sunni district of Azamiyah, and ravagedal-Fallujah where no voting at all was said tohave taken place.


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Tere was no independent monitoring bodyto confirm or support the validation of interim

results from the commission. Te UN, havinghelped organise the election, had made it clearin advance that it would not be involved in ob-serving it, and Carlos Valenzuela, its lead officialat the Commission distanced himself and theworld body from the IECIs early statements onturnout and totals.

A hastily organised independent monitoring groupof foreign election experts remained in Amman,

Jordan, its members unable to get security clear-ance to move its operations into Iraq. Insteadthe specially-founded International Mission forIraqi Elections (IMIE) plans to audit and as-sess the data from Iraqi observers and evaluatethe process after the event. Te IECI itself, withUN support, had trained several thousand Iraqielection observers, and briefed thousands morefrom the parties, but their true effectiveness has

yet to be independently assessed.

In its preliminary statements, the IMIE team inJordan said it had identified several strong points

regarding todays election, including the extentand quality of (the IECIs) election planning and

organisation, and its independence. But it addedthat areas recommended for further develop-ment include transparency regarding financialcontributions and expenditures, improvementsto the voter registration process, and reviewingthe criteria for candidate eligibility.

Registration of candidates,

parties and votersAny Iraqi who is at least years old, has a high-school diploma and was not a high-ranking member

of Saddam Husseins Baath Party or responsiblefor atrocities under Husseins regime was allowedto run for office. Lower ranking members of theBaath Party who have renounced their affiliationmay run. Current serving members of the Iraqi

armed services were barred from standing.

Under the January system, which like all elsein the current voting process, is open to reviewand may be changed by the National Assemblyduring ahead of the next vote, candidatesmay run as independents or on a list. A list isdefined as a political party, an association or agroup of people with a common political agenda such as womens or human rights groups - that

submits candidates.

Individuals can also apply and, if certified, they canrun alone or form a coalition with other certifiedpolitical entities.

Names must appear in rank order on the partylists and every third candidate in order must be awoman. Seats were allocated through a system of

Indx on Cnsorshipmedia trainers in Iraq: Sihem

Bensedrine, Yahia Shukkier & Yousef Ahmed. (In-

dex/Rohan Jayasekera)


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proportional representation, with seats allocatedproportionate to the percentage of the vote given

to each of the lists. Te actual names of the, candidates on the lists were kept secretup until two days before the poll to protect themagainst insurgent attack.

Iraqis born on or before December wereeligible to vote, provided they can prove theircitizenship. Iraq has no official census, so voterswere registered through ration cards used forthe UN oil-for-food programme, which began

in .

Tose voters who did not have ration cards wereallowed to vote if they produced two official papers,such as citizenship certificates, identity cards,passports, or military service documents. Wherethe security situation permitted the process wentsmoothly, despite some problems with the registra-tion of would be voters born in .

Registration was allowed right up to election dayon January in the violence-plagued governoratesof al-Anbar and Nineveh, where Mosul is located.

But in many areas insurgents made verification ofthe voter lists virtually impossible. Iraqs interimpresident Ghazi al-Yawar conceded before thevote that there were areas where not one voterregistration sheet had been handed out.

Some , refugees who fled the November US assault on al-Fallujah also faced severepractical difficulties registering and voting, beyondthe physical threat posed by insurgents.

Even in the relatively peaceful northern governo-rates, Human Rights Watch reported up to percent of the voter registration forms in Arbilprovince had mistakes that needed correction and

that up to , people in the area might losetheir right to vote as a result.

Te development of a more rigidly operatedregistration list, possibly as part of a nationwidecensus, will be a priority for the Iraqi governmentin . Tis will be a politically contentious task,

especially in disputed areas such as Kirkuk, andamong minorities Assyrian Christians, andurkomans in particular - who do not believetheir political presence should be measured onlyby their numbers.

Iraq has a population of more than millionpeople, but it is a young country - percent ofthe population are under the age of , twice thepercentage recorded in the United Kingdom &United States. Tat left just . million Iraqiseligible to vote, with . million of them livingoutside the country.

Overseas voting was supervised by the Inter-national Organisation for Migration, thoughonly , of the . million eligible expatriatesregistered to vote and of them just over two-thirds

actually cast a ballot, despite intensive efforts by theIOM. Future overseas registration and voting will

probably be managed by Iraqi embassies abroad,as is the case with other nations.

Main Party Lists January

United Iraqi List Iraqi National Congress (secular) leader

Ahmad Chalabi Islamic Action Organisation (Shi'ite Islamist)

leader Ibrahim al-Matiri


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Islamic Dawa Party in Iraq (Shi'ite Islam-ist) leader Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim

Jaafari Islamic Dawa Party Iraq Organisation (Shi'ite

Islamist) - leader Abdul Karim Anizi Islamic Virtue Party (Shi'ite Islamist) - leader

Nadim Issa Jabiri Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in

Iraq (Shi'ite Islamist) - leader Abdul Azizal-Hakim

urkmen Islamic Union (urkmen) - leaderAbbas Hassan al-Bayati

Also includes nine other Shi'ite and urkmenparties and prominent Saddam-era dissenterHussain al-Shahristani

Iraqi List Iraqi National Accord (secular) - leader Prime

Minister Iyad Allawi With five other secular parties and one in-

dividual

Kurdistan Alliance List Kurdistan Democratic Party (Kurdish) -

leader Massoud Barzani Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (Kurdish) -

leader Jalal alabani With nine other Kurdish parties

Patriotic Rafidain Party Assyrian Democratic Movement (Christian)

- leader Yonadim Kanna Chaldean National Council (Christian) People's Union Iraqi Communist Party (secular) - leader

Hamid Majid Moussa With one additional individual candidate

Main Single Party Lists Constitutional Monarchy (secular) - leader

al-Sharif Ali Bin Hussein Independent Democratic Movement (secular)

- leader Adnan Pachachi Iraqi Islamic Party (Sunni Islamist) - leader

Mohsen Abdul Hamid Iraqi National Gathering (secular) - leader

Hussein al-Jibouri Iraqis (secular) - leader Iraqi President Ghazi

al-Yawar Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc (secular)

- leader Mishaan Jibouri

Electoral boundaries

Tere were no voting districts for the NationalAssembly vote - just a single country-wide election.Tis controversial plan was endorsed by the UNbecause it was thought easier to organise than

drawing up electoral districts based on Iraqscultures and ethnicities. But the system, not un-common in Europe and Asia, has its problems. Akey part of building representative parliaments andgovernments is building a sense of confidence that

both are accountable to their constituents. Iraqs January system weakens that confidence.

Under the January system politicians are moreaccountable to their party leaders than to Iraqi

voters. Te party leader can punish MPs who putlocal interests ahead of party interests by pushingthem down the order of names in the party list.

Tat way they will be less likely to retain theirseat in the next election. Party leaders can also usethe list system to promote individuals includingsome with Baathist era records or hardcore agendas


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who would never win popular votes in a straight

vote for individually named candidates.

Generally, the use of nationwide party lists else-where in the Middle East has tended to bolsterreligious, ethnic and sectarian parties there. Teagenda is fixed on the national not local level. And

under the January system, because the NationalAssembly elections are not tied to districts, therewill be towns that have no local citizens in the IraqiAssembly and other towns with scores of them.

Te new National Assembly will be looking closelyat the effectiveness of the separate ballot for pro-vincial councils in Iraqs governorates held on January and the regional ballot for the KurdishNational Parliament as options when it comes todecide on how local the next elections will be.

But again, provincial level elections tend to favourtribal identities or the wishes of locally power-

ful clergy. In Jordan they found that by dividingelection areas into smaller voting districts changed

the political agenda and cut the Muslim Brother-hood vote by half.

In other countries the local focus has strengthened

the hand of parties such as Hezbollah where theyhave turned to active community-level activism.Voters in single-member districts tend to focuson local issues, such as schools, health provision,electricity, and policing and in Iraq the polls areclear that it is these issues that are the priority.

Finally one of many factors driving the pre- January calls for an Iraqi Sunni election boycottwas the understanding that under the agreed sys-tem, that percent of the Assembly seats wouldbe the best they could expect in any circumstance.In a vote based purely on national identities, thiswould inevitably be seen a defeat. But in a vote

Examining the lists of candidates in the Iraq elections.

(Reuters/Ali Jarekji)


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based on local factors, sectarian matters wouldbe less essential to the voters choice.

NB: Up to mid-January, Kurdish political par-ties threatened to boycott elections in Kirkuk,alleging that Kurdish residents of Kirkuk whohad been expelled from the area during SaddamHusseins Arabisation programme in the sand s were forbidden to vote in the provincial

election.

On January the IECI ruled that displaced

Kurds from the area up to , people -could vote in Kirkuk for the al-amin provincialgovernment locally. Arab and urkmen leadersin Kirkuk condemned the decision, complainingthat the decision gave the Kurds leadership of theal-amin local government throughout , whenKirkuks territorial status in Iraq is scheduled tobe determined.

How the media managed

We feel defeated and we are frustrated... We fearthat we will be branded as the spies and collabora-

tors of the occupation. Tere are many whom wefear: Te Board of Muslim Clerics, the foreign

Jihadis, Muqtada al-Sadr, Zarqawis people, andfinally Saddams henchmen. - Ali Hasan, Institute

for War and Peace Reporting.

Te Iraqi media entered the start of the electioncampaign period on December working onwhat media rights groups had already dubbedthe worlds most dangerous assignment. Nearly journalists and media workers, most of themIraqis, were killed in the line of duty in .

Journalists are no longer seen as impartial observers

by either side. Reporters were beaten, threatened,

detained without cause, kidnapped for criminaland political reasons and killed, sometimes de-liberately, all to often carelessly by trigger-happytroops. And afterwards it was often impossiblefor reporters to discover the true circumstancesof their colleagues deaths whether deliber-ate or accidental - let alone see the perpetratorsbrought to justice.

Tis encouraged a climate of impunity, where

perpetrators could expect to escape serious con-sequences for their acts. Conflicting messageswere sent out by the US authorities on theone hand advocating a free media, while on theother, closing down newspapers and detainingaccredited journalists. Te handover to an interim

Iraqi government had not improved matters, asthe new authorities had learnt bad lessons fromtheir predecessors.

We face different dangers now and there is no lawto protect journalists in Iraq, Hussein Muhammad

al-Ajil of al-Mada newspaper told Iranian-Ameri-can journalist Borzou Daragahi. Tere are threats

from three sides: the Americans might shoot youif theyre ambushed; the Iraqi security forces mightstop you or beat you if they suspect youre withthe resistance; and the resistance might kill youif they think youre a spy.

Te danger increased in the run up to the elec-tion. On September al-Arabiya journalist

Mazen umeisi died in an US helicopter attack.He was the eighth al-Arabiya staffer to die sinceMarch , and one of three killed by the USarmy in circumstances that have yet to be fullyexplained..


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Al-Arabiya reporter Abdel Kader al-Saadi wasdetained by US troops despite being clearly identi-

fied as a journalist and in circumstances that gaverise to allegations of deliberate intimidation. Hisstation has also received numerous threats fromclaimed supporters of the Jordanian insurgentleader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, demanding thatit support the jihad against the US occupationand Iraqi government.

Te insurgents and the countrys criminals havealso struck. Al-Sharqiyya television reporter Likaa

Abdelrazzak was killed in the street in Baghdadon Oct. , Sada Wasit newspaper reporter RaadBeriaej al-Azzawi was kidnapped in November,one among many. Another Iraqi journalist report-

ing on police patrols in the town of Allawi wascaught by the insurgents. Tey took his notes and

tapes and told him to get out of town.

Daragahi also reported that one journalist atal-Mada was threatened with death after hewrote about alleged corruption in an Iraqi gov-ernment ministry and had to flee the country.Al-Mada newspaper was also targeted by rockets.Western journalists, largely trapped in their hotels,relied on Iraqi reporters (stringers) to get infor-

mation they couldnt, and as the target profile ofwestern journalists increased, so did the threat

to Iraqis working with them. A leaflet circulatedin al-Fallujah offered money to anyone givinginformation about Iraqi journalists, translatorsand drivers working with foreign media.

All the Iraqi media faced similar threats, plus theattentions of an interim authority that has soughtin the past to impose its views on the media andordering it not to attach patriotic descriptions tothe insurgents and criminals, and asked the media

to set aside space in news coverage to make theposition of the Iraqi government, which expressesthe aspirations of most Iraqis, clear, or face theconsequences.

Yet with most election hopefuls unable to get outand campaign on the streets, names of candidateskept secret until shortly before the election, andthe vote itself judged on national issues, not local

agendas, the Iraqi media became the main playerin the campaign.

Te view is that they performed better than ex-pected. Sunni groups opposed to participatingin the election regularly espouse their views insupporting newspapers and are often quotedin what would be considered the popular press,owned by independent or pro-election partynewspapers, noted Kathleen Ridolfo of Radio

Free Europe before the election. Sunni groupsthat will participate in the elections despite somehesitancy over the issue have also made theirplatforms known.

Reports and commentaries in the print mediadid not shy from discussions about the role thatIslam will play in a future Iraqi state with a Shiitemajority, the possible withdrawal of multinational

Guarding a polling station in Mosul.

(Reuters/Zohra Bensemra)


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forces, the Kurdish issue and the coming constitu-tion. Newspapers have covered the activities of

the Election Commission.

As for television, said Ridolfo, Allawi whetherby virtue of being prime minister or by intention-- has dominated the airwaves. A new feature forIraqis was the use of sleekly-produced V advertsto persuade people to vote and close to electionday, to try and persuade Iraqi Sunnis to defyboycott calls. Chat shows on Iraqi radio made adramatic impact. Party supporters filled streets

with campaign posters, replaced as soon as theywere ripped down by rivals with new ones.

A variety of alternative promotional techniquesemerged: the Iraqi Hezbollah published a calendar

with its campaign message, another party distrib-uted video CDs with party messages interspersedwith comedy clips.

Te role of electionobservers

Te United Nations said from the outset thatit would encourage the electoral commission toask for international observers for the election,though the world body, having helped organise the

poll, would not be involved in observing it. About

, representatives of Iraqi political parties andnongovernmental organisations have registered to

observe voting, and each list has the right to havemembers present while votes are counted.

International monitoring of the January elec-tions in Iraq was heavily restricted. Te United Na-

tions said from the outset that it would encourage

the electoral commission to ask for international

observers for the election, though the UN, havinghelped organise the poll, would not be involved in

observing it. A group of two dozen experts broughttogether by the specially-founded InternationalMission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE) did its workfrom over the border in Amman, Jordan.

Te high profile of some of the figures concernedtheir national governments, all senior electionofficials from countries ranging from Albaniato Yemen under team leader, Elections Canadachief Jean-Pierre Kingsley. In the end their home

governments barred them from crossing the borderinto Iraq. Observer team members argued thatnot crossing the border made their job impossible,but others said that trying to cover the electionunder strict security restrictions would give aninaccurate impression that the vote had beenproperly observed and validated.

In the end Kingsleys team opted for a limited

mission, auditing and assessing the data fromIraqi observers and evaluate the process after theevent. Teir lection day studies focussed on thefollowing areas: legal framework voter registration electoral preparations voter information and education equitable access to media out-of-country registration and voting

pre-polling complaint procedures certification of political parties, coalitions

and candidates polling vote counting and compilation of results post-election complaints

Some , volunteer Iraqi monitors from some Iraqi organisations were trained by a UN spon-


18/94


sored programme to act as independent observers,

registered with the Election Commission while

there were a reported , registered observersfrom different political parties who stood by towatch the process in action. But this is an unusualmethodology. Normally foreign observers areheavily in attendance at this kind of vote.

Te European Union declined an invitation fromIraq to send observers while the Carter Center,which has monitored more than electionsoverseas, also decided not to send observers. Te

January Palestinian elections drew officialobservers, led by former US president JimmyCarter and two former European prime ministers.Even the October Afghanistan polls, where

the threats to foreign observers was well stated inadvance, drew more than foreign observers.

An elecion is free when it reflecs the full expres-sion of the politial will of the people onerned.Freedom in this sense involves the ability to partii-

pate in the politial proess without intimidation,oerion, disrimination, or the abridgment of therights to assoiate with others, to assemble, and toreeive or impart information. Te fairness ofan elecion refers to the right to vote on the basisof equality, non-disrimination, and universality.

No portion of the elecorate should be arbitrar-ily disqualified, or have their votes given extraweight. - Human Rights Watch

Women waiting to vote in Irans February

elections. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)


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19


Measures of support -Estimates & opinion polls

Numbers and predictions of numbers werethe all important issue during the Januaryelection. For the US-led forces in Iraq, the ac-tual turnout of voters in the face of the threat ofviolence was used as a measure of the insurgentsweakness, for example. But the major numbersdebate spun around the calls for an Iraqi Sunniboycott before the vote.

Te decision to base the January elections ona national slate of party lists was logical, but itleft Iraqi Sunnis in a quandary. Te national slatesystem could leave them with only no more than percent of the representation in the NationalAssembly if they voted as Sunnis, but what would

it give them if they voted as Iraqis?

As it became clear that the closer the number ofIraqi Sunni voters got to percent of the totalvotes cast, the more the new government wouldbe able claim legitimacy, the issue of the IraqiSunni turnout on election day took on majorsignificance.

Pre-vote polls by foreign organisations focusedheavily on this issue. A poll by the US International

Republican Institute from early January projected

that percent of Iraqis were likely to vote, and percent very likely. Te difference between thefirst and the second number was in the peoplesperceptions of threat, and the appeal of the verydiverse arguments for a boycott.

It was here that the Iraqi media played a key role.Te threat of violence deterred extensive studiesby opinion pollsters, and exit polling on the day.

Security rules requiring pollsters to stand about yards away from polling stations outside

the security cordons - inhibited them from car-rying out exit polls. Tough neither are whollyreliable guides to the real level of voter opinion,without them the Iraqi media was given extraresponsibility to accurately represent the situationbefore and during the vote.

Te media is always tasked to provide the infor-mation that the people need to make informeddecisions, but here it was also backing up decisions

on physical safety. Te tone of the coverage as wellas the facts reported played as much of a role inthis. In addition there were non-sectarian partylists with Iraqi Sunni involvement trying to appealto voters in the four predominantly Iraqi Sunniprovinces where the threat of violence was highand campaigning was largely impossible.

Te local media - and to an extent, the Arab satel-

lite V networks - was one of their few means ofreaching voters in these areas, and its effectivenessin doing so may have been the Iraqi medias greatesttest in the run up to January.

Security

Security was set predictably high for the election,with major restrictions on movements around

election day. Iraqs land borders were closed fromJanuary -; only pilgrims returning from theHajj in Saudi Arabia were allowed to enter thecountry. ravel between Iraqs provinces was al-lowed only by special permits, and most civiliantravel of all kinds barred on election day to obstructcar bombers. Te ban on car travel made it difficultfor some voters to reach the polls, especially if


20/94


they have moved from the neighbourhood wherethey are registered.

Te media were required to get special accredita-tion and coverage from the polling stations wasstrictly regulated. A reported , Iraqi po-lice and , Iraqi National Guardsmen weredeployed to protect the stations, backed up by, US and , British soldiers.

Radio Free Europe reported that an unsigneddirective posted to a jihadist website in early

January advised militants in Iraq to prevent thecontinuation of participation by any membersof the election committees through persuasion,threats, kidnapping, and other methods.

It continued: Make sure that once they agree towithdraw from the election committee, their with-drawal is not announced except during the criticaland narrow time frame (so that) the government

cannot replace them with other (workers).... Tiswill make it extremely difficult to find trainedpeople to manage the elections in such a shortperiod of time.

In the week before the election, the governmentannounced the arrest of several senior aides toAbu Musab al-Zarqawi, suggesting it was making

inroads against the group that had sworn to turnpolling day into a bloodbath. However, Reuters

reported some government officials had cast doubton the importance of the arrests, suggesting theannouncements were designed to build confidence

in security arrangements.

Tis report was compiled on January by Rohan

Jayasekera, associate editor at Index on Censorship.

He is currently directing Indexs programmes ofmonitoring, publishing, training and advocacy in

Iraq. Its conclusions are the magazines and do not

necessarily reflect those of its partners.


21/94

Te Media and the

Election ProcessReference material


22/94


Reuters Foundation Fleet StreetLondon

United Kingdomel: + () Fax: + () www.foundation.reuters.comEditors noteTis publication is the work of several organizations and many individuals. Te opinions expressedare those of the authors alone. Tey are not necessarily shared by other partners in this project,including the UNESCO, the United Nations and its agencies.


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3

Reporting elections: A guide

Reporting

Elections: A GuideIntroduction

Elections are the cornerstone of any democracy,and the media has a vital role -- in informing thepublic about what the politicians are promising,in telling the politicians what ordinary peoplewant, or do not want, and in ensuring that the

polls are free and fair. Tis is particularly im-portant in countries lacking a solid backgroundof democratic rule.

From the time that elections are announcedto when they take place, usually between six

and eight weeks, there is ample opportunityfor incumbent leaders and parties to bend therules to their advantage, in subtle and not-so-

subtle ways. It is the journalists task to deterthem from doing this.

Good journalists should also report electionsin a non-partisan way, suppressing their ownpolitical views in order to allow the public tomake up their minds solely on the basis of whatthe various candidates are offering.

Tis guide looks at the various stages of the

electoral process, and the areas where distortionscan occur, either through deliberate actions orpoor organisation.

Many of these areas are highlighted in guidelinesgiven to observers from the Organisation forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),which has monitored elections in ex-Commu-nist European states. Tey were also invited by

the Palestinians to observe their January, ,presidential poll.

Voting systems

Tese mainly fall under three categories:

Plurality--A candidate who obtains more votesthan any other is elected even if that candidate

wins only a minority of votes cast. Te mostcommon form of this is the first-past-the-postsystem, sometimes known as winner takes all,used in Britain, the United States and India,among others.

MajorityTe successful candidate must winmore votes than those of all the others com-bined. Tis is normally achieved by a holding

Woman voter, January .

(Reuters/Ali Jarekji)


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a two-round contest in which the early loseris eliminated after the first.

Proportional (PR)Te most common ver-sion of this is when voters choose form partylists, and seats are awarded according to thevotes going to each party. Tis is used in mostcontinental European countries, South Africaand Israel.

Tere is also the so-called Single-ransferableVote, where voters indicate an order of prefer-

ence among candidates. Once a candidate hasreceived enough votes to be elected outright,second preference votes are added to the totalsof the remaining candidates.

Each system has its supporters and detractors.For arguments on both sides, a useful web-siteis www.electoral-reform.org.uk.

Counting the vote

Tere are a number of ways of counting thevote. Increasingly there is a move towardssome sort of mechanical and/or electronicsystems. All systems have their advantagesand drawbacks.

Manual counting Te simplest, votes can

be counted on the spot, provided there areenough staff, the count can be witnessed, andif the result is challenged there is a re-count.However counting can take days, particularlyif there are several challenges.

Counting with machines Ballots, usuallypunched cards, are fed into a machine thatcounts them. It is quick, but the machines are

expensive and not available in all polling stations,meaning moving ballots, and the danger this

brings of tampering. Tey can also go wrong,as in the U.S. Presidential Election inFlorida, and some machines leave no paperrecord in case of a challenge and re-count.

Electronic voting Tis allows computers tocount marks on a ballot with an optical sensorbefore they are put into the box. Te originalballots are therefore retained in case there is

a need for a re-count. Another version allowsvoters to input their vote directly into a countingmachine. Also expensive

Internet and telephone voting Widely usedin some countries for popularity contests andcompany board elections, but ruled out forgeneral elections because of the problems ofverifying the identity of the voter and the threatof computer hackers.

Te Basics

As soon as an election is announced and cam-paigning begins, newspapers should carry es-sential information on how many candidatesare involved, how many parties, the numberof eligible voters, the total of constituencies,

Election official advises a voter.(Reuters/Tobias Schwartz)


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5


results of the last elections. Tis could be ina box to be included in every edition during

campaigning, or in a special election supple-ment. It is important to get this informationout early to the electorate, so they can prepareto digest the barrage of information they willreceive over the next few weeks.

Media should also advise the public on howto register as voters, and remind them of theirrights and responsibilities in the political proc-ess.

Electoral Commission

Te body charged with organising the electionsmust be independent of the government. Madeup of experienced, respected neutral individuals,or a balance of political party representatives.With an independent budget guaranteed by

the government.

In the Yugoslav presidential elections,won by Slobodan Milosevic and branded asham by the OSCE, who were refused permis-sion to observe, the entire process was run byhis government. His regime was also accusedof ballot-stuffing, widespread intimidationand using state media and funds for one-sidedpolitical campaigning.

Journalists covering elections should knowthe electoral law by heart. If something is notright, it is up to them to call for a boycott orpostponement.

Registration of candidatesand parties

Check that all candidates seeking to stand havebeen allowed to register. Make sure that the cur-rent electoral law does not discriminate againstany individuals or groups. Watch out for unusualcandidates, as in the following Reuter NewsAgency reports at the start of the Palestinianpresidential elections in January .

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov (Reu-ters) - Firebrand uprising leader MarwanBarghouthi has decided to run for Palestinian

president from his Israeli jail cell, an official ofhis Fatah faction said on Tursday

JERUSALEM, Nov (Reuters) - A Pal-estinian journalist from Jerusalems walledOld City said on Sunday she would run for

president to succeed Yasser Arafat, becomingthe first woman to enter the race

Registration of voters

Voter lists should be posted well in advance,the registration process should be easily ac-cessible for everyone, and there should be norestrictions according to gender, race, religion,

ethnic origin, political affiliation, property own-ership, qualifications or lack of money to paya registration fee. Acceptable restrictions arethose lacking proper citizenship or residencyqualifications, criminals in jail for serious crimes,the mentally incapable. Te registration processcan be vulnerable to manipulation.


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Journalists, along with observers, should be ableto scrutinise and verify voters rolls in advance.

If registration is rushed and rolls are displayedafter the official deadline, editors should becalling for a postponement of the vote.

Electoral boundaries

All votes should carry approximately the sameweight, so the number of voters in each electoraldistrict should not vary by more than . Check

that boundaries have not been altered by theruling authorities, without proper consultation,for political advantage. Tere have in the pastbeen many cases of gerrymandering, in whichelection districts are manipulated by rulingauthorities for electoral advantage by redrawingboundaries to include more supporters.

A classic case of gerrymandering was in North-

ern Ireland in the late s, when ProtestantUnionists succeeded in engineering the electionof a Unionist-dominated city council in Lon-donderry, which has a solid Catholic majority.Te Unionist move led to civil rights protestsby Catholics in the city, spiralling into over years of sectarian bloodshed.

Te campaign

Election campaigns are exhausting for all jour-nalists covering them. Since campaign ralliesand televised debates are usually signalled wellin advance, media organisations should drawup detailed daily schedules assigning reportersto the various events. If possible it is useful tohave the same reporter covering each of themain candidates rallies throughout the cam-

paign. Get them to do in-depth profiles of theleading candidates.

Decisions must be made on how many of thecandidates/parties to cover regularly. Whilesome individual candidates may look like com-

plete outsiders, conscientious reporters shouldtry to reflect the views of the smaller groups,which may be of interest to the public. Andbehind-the-scenes bargaining during campaign-

ing could eventually propel some of the minorplayers to power in a coalition government.

Media

Is there unrestricted access for the media toall candidates/parties? All responsible mediashould report impartially about the election,particularly state-run media, since they are

funded by the tax-payer.

Some governments have used media they controlto attack opposition candidates, restrict thesupply of newsprint and exclude oppositioncandidates from appearing on V and radio.One frequent abuse by incumbent governmentsis to allow balanced coverage in designated elec-

Campaign meeting in the Gaza Strip

(Reuters/Suhaib Salem)


27/94

7


tion broadcasts, but then show politically biasedprogrammes on other programmes.

In Kyrgyzstans Presidential elections in ,won by incumbent Askar Akayev, OSCE moni-tors complained that state-owned V hadallocated him nearly per cent of its air-timedevoted to the elections.

Conscientious newspapers and broadcastersshould set up a monitoring system with dailyassessments on the distribution of air-time

and other issues.

Te issues

Increasingly elections have been dominated bythe personality of the candidates. Journalistsshould try to keep the focus on the issues, bytalking to ordinary people, particularly those

lacking a strong voice in society the elderlyand the young, women, in some countries,the poor, ethnic and religious minorities. Askthem if they are better or worse off since thelast polls.

Put their views to the candidates, and reporttheir responses.

Have your specialist correspondents look at the

main issues arising during the campaign theeconomy, law and order, transport, education,foreign policy, defence.

Select a representative sample of the generalpublic at the start of the campaign, and returnto them regularly to see how they have beeninfluenced by the campaigning so far.

If you are a national paper based in the capital,ensure that reporters travel as widely as pos-

sible through the country to get the broadestselection of views. In Frances presidentialelections, the Paris-based national and inter-national media failed to anticipate the riseof far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in hissouthern power-base.

Campaign financing

Is there a system of state financing for politicalparties, as exists in many countries? Is there alimit to business/private donations to partycampaigns? And is there an obligation for par-ties to declare them?

Te public should be entitled to know if candi-dates are receiving significant cash from narrowbusiness interests, with the potential for influ-

encing the policy of a future government.

Nowadays the main tools of election campaign-ing are the broadcast media, particularly V.In Britain, all broadcast media are barred fromcarrying election advertising apart from briefparty political broadcasts which are carriedsimultaneously by all principal V channels.Tere are also restrictions on how much eachcandidate can spend on campaigning, based

on the size of the electoral district, as well asnational spending limits on each party. Mostcampaigning is done by door-to-door or tel-ephone canvassing by party workers, electionrallies and leaflets through letter-boxes.

In the United States, there are no limits tocampaign spending, the bulk of it on V.


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For newspapers, the question is whether theyshould accept paid political advertisements, as-suming the law permits this, and, if so, whetherall the main parties should be allowed equalexposure.

Election observers/monitors

If the election is being attended by interna-tional monitors and observers, such as from theOSCE, or independent domestic groups, keepin regular contact with individuals, and theirheadquarters, through their mobile telephones,

as they spread across the country in biggernumbers than most papers can afford. Contact

with them is particularly useful on election dayas they observe the crucial voting and countingprocess. However they may be reluctant to talkto the media as individuals.

International observers are normally deployedfor a few days, before and after the elections.Monitors tend to be in the country for longerperiods, looking at the whole electoral process,including the election laws and the influence

of the media on campaigning.

Crowd estimates

Be very wary of using organisers estimates ofcrowds attending political party rallies, whichcan be wildly exaggerated, aimed at inflatingtheir support. If you cant do your own count,

try and check with independent sources suchas monitors, or police, though they may alsohave reasons to inflate or deflate crowd figures.You can also check with other reporters if theyare reliable.

Te most accurate way of estimating crowdsis from aerial photographs, but these may notbe readily available.

On-the-spot counting is best done from a highpoint. One rough method is to divide the spaceinto sections, count people in one section,then multiply it to take in the whole area.

Another method is to work out the size ofthe crowd area, in square metres, and assignthree people per square metre. Tus a roadfive kilometres long and metres wide, if

A boy stands in the shadow of a queue of voters inBasra. (Reuters/Toby Melville)


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9


packed with demonstrators, will contain roughly,.

Opinion polls

Widely used by media on a daily basis duringcampaigning to gauge the publics reaction tocampaign issues, and their likely voting inten-tions. Many media engage a polling organisationto work for them throughout the campaign.Tey should however by reputable, using sci-

entific methods to reflect the broadest spectrumof public opinion.

Some broadcasting networks organise exitpolls, asking people at polling stations how theyvoted, and declaring the winner immediatelyafter the polls close. However such polls canbe unreliable in the U.S. presidentialelection a polling organisation called Democrat

Al Gore the winner in Florida minutes beforethe close, which could have affected the resultin the crucial and tightly-fought contest. Anexit poll at the British general electionsaw incumbent Margaret Tatcher re-electedwith the narrowest of margins. When all thevotes had been counted, she had won by alandslide.

Some countries have a ban on publishing opin-

ion polls in the last few days before the election,to allow voters make up their own minds.

Security

Te ruling authorities have a duty to ensure thatpolitical rallies can take place without intimida-tion from rival groups. But at the same time

they should not be deployed in such numbersand in such a way as to discourage people from

attending such events a tactic often used byauthoritarian regimes.

In the first round of Ukraines presidentialelection in September , which OSCEobservers criticised as seriously flawed, opposi-tion campaign events were regularly disrupted.Te ruling authorities were also accused ofbias in state media and of using state funds incampaigning, among other things.

Postal ballots

Many countries allow a proportion of vot-ing to be done by post, despite criticism thatthe process is open to fraud and intimidation,particularly in collecting votes from militarypersonnel who might feel under pressure to

vote for the ruling authorities. Tere have beencases of ruling authorities requiring signatureson absentee military ballots after they have beencast, but before they have been counted.

After postal elections for local authorities inBritain there were allegations that some sectionsof society, particularly immigrant women, hadbeen effectively disenfranchised after their bal-lot papers were collected and filled in by local

community leaders.

In the U.S. Presidential Election, over, postal ballots were reported to havegone missing in Florida.


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Absentee ballots

Another potential opportunity for unscrupulousgovernments to influence the vote. Many coun-tries have expatriate communities dotted aroundthe world large enough to have a significantbearing on the vote. Checks need to be madeby journalists on whether they received theirabsentee ballots in time, whether their vote wascast in polling stations set up in their countryof residence, or sent in by post. And whetherthe numbers of absentee votes tally with latest

figures on expatriate numbers.

Staggered voting In some countries withmultiple time zones, such as Canada, votingis staggered to allow all voters to cast theirballots without being influenced by the re-

sults or trends in other parts of the country. In

some countries with remote communities andlack of communications, voters in these areasare allowed to cast their ballots days or evenweeks early to allow them to reach the nearestcounting office.

As with postal and absentee ballots, it is crucialfor a truly free and fair vote that these earlyresults be kept secure, and are not published

before the others, so as not to influence votingbehaviour.

Election eve

Media should carry balanced reports summingup the programmes of the leading candidates,the main issues as expressed by ordinary people,prospects for the future, and the standing of thecandidates/parties in the latest opinion polls.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan (Reuters) A champion of non-violence is set to suc-ceed Yasser Arafat in Sundays Palestinianelections but hopes of peace pinned to hisvictory may be short-lived

Te reports must also include detailed informa-tion on voting procedure, with the location andopening and closing times of polling stations.

Tey should also report when first unofficialresults can be expected, if exit polls are beingorganised, and when first official results arelikely.

Tey could also carry a fact-box with all theessential details of the election.

Reuters carried the following before the Pal-estinian presidential elections.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan (Reu-ters) Palestinians vote on Sunday in apresidential election to choose a successor toYasser Arafat. Below are some facts aboutthe election:

A family of Iraqis registers to vote in Amman.(IOM)


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- Te presidential election is the second sincethe Palestinian authority was established un-

der interim peace agreements with Israel.

- Seven candidates are standing and Mah-moud Abbas, a relative moderate from thedominant Fatah movement, is tipped to win.His latest opinion poll rating is percent.

- In second place is human rights activistMustafa Barghouthi with percent in themost recent poll. Te other candidates are

expected to get only a few percent betweenthem.

- Te powerful Islamic militant group Hamasis boycotting the election.

- Tere are about . million eligible votersin the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East

Jerusalem from an estimated population

of . million.

- Voting will take place at about , pollingstations between a.m. and p.m.

- Voters in East Jerusalem, annexed by Israelin a move not recognised internationally, willcast ballots at Israeli post offices.

- Votes will be counted at polling stations

before being fed to the independent CentralElections Commission.

- Results are expected by Jan. .

- Some international observers, includ-ing former U.S. President Jimmy Carterand former French Prime Minister MichelRocard, will join , local monitors.

Tere is also always room for a human interestpiece focussing on an ordinary citizen express-

ing his hopes and fears for the future. TeReuters example:

KHAN YOUNIS, Ghaza Strip, Jan (Reuters) Years of Israeli raids have leftEssam Abu Odeh weary but on Saturdaythe school caretaker again took up bricksand mortar for a job he hoped would helpbuild a better Palestinian future throughelections..

Final Checklist

(Questions reporters should be asking them-selves): Is the electoral commission organising the

poll independent of the government andbalanced/neutral in its composition?

Have all candidates seeking to stand beenallowed to register. Does the electoral lawdiscriminate against any individual orgroup?

Is the registration process easily accessibleto all and free of restrictions related to race,gender, or political or financial status?

Are the numbers of voters in each elec-toral district more or less equal? Couldthe authorities have changed boundaries

for political advantage? Does the media have unrestricted access

to all candidates/parties? Any sign thatgovernment is using state-run media toattack opposition candidates or restrictingtheir exposure on radio/V?

Are political parties state financed? Is therea limit to business/private donations andmust parties declare them?


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Can all political rallies take place without

intimidation by ruling authorities or rivalgroups?

Election day

For broadcasters, news agencies and eveningpapers, a report when the polls open in theearly morning.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan (Reuters)- Palestinians began voting on Sunday for asuccessor to Yasser Arafat widely expectedto be Mahmoud Abbas, a pragmatist theyhope will revive a peace process with Israelafter years of bloodshed.

Start checking with your reporters, police andinternational and domestic monitors for indica-

tions of the size of the turnout, which will helpdetermine the success of the whole electoralprocess and could provide a first hint of who is

likely to win, as well as any early signs of violence,intimidation or other irregularities.

Follow the main candidates to the polling sta-tions as they vote, for their early commentsand local colour.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan (Reuters)

- Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, front-runner in Sundays presidential election, said

the voting to choose a successor to YasserArafat was going smoothly.

We heard that there is a high turnout,especially by women, and this is a very goodthing, Abbas said after casting his ballot inthe Muqata headquarters in Ramallah undera portrait of Arafat

Election day (Reuters)


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13


During the day of voting, check constantlywith your reporters and monitors for irregu-

larities.

Tings to look out for:Multiple votingAll functioning voting sys-tems include a mechanism aimed at ensuringthat people vote only once. However none ofthem are absolutely fool-proof. Tere have beenfrequent cases of dead people being registeredas voters, or of individuals finding ways ofrecording multiple votes.

Journalists should look closely at voters rollsat polling stations to look out for repeats ofnames, addresses or occupations which couldsuggest multiple voting. One system used inseveral countries is to mark voters fingers withindelible ink which stays visible for up to a week.

Tis system, used in Iraqs milestone January Presidential vote, can however leave vot-

ers vulnerable to retaliation from extremistsopposed to the democratic process.

A possible solution to this is to use a mecha-nism used by the OSCE in local elections inBosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo followingthe break-up of Yugoslavia, where the paintcontained silver nitrate that only shows upunder ultra-violet light.

Getting out the votersCandidates and partiescan organise their own transport to polling sta-tions on election day, particularly for the elderlyand disabled. But the ruling authorities shouldnot use state transport facilities for this, whichwould represent an unfair advantage.

Inside the polling centre. (IOM)


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Security presence A heavy presence of policeand security forces in and around polling sta-

tions could be construed as intimidation. Inthe first round of Ukraines presidentialelection, the OSCE reported a police presencein over per cent of polling stations.

TransparencyAre the ballot boxes sealed? Arethey located out of sight of election officials? Arethe voting booths unscreened, undermining thesecrecy of the ballot, leaving voters vulnerableto discrimination post-election.

Other things to watch out for: People with valid voting papers being turned

away. Officials demanding extra identification

documents. Long queues at polling stations, indicating

a lack of organisation. Campaign posters prominently displayed

outside and inside polling stations

Check that the transport of the ballot boxesto the central counting office is monitored inall cases by international and domestic ob-servers.

Te count

Check that the count is done by an independentbody, and monitored at all times by qualifiedobservers and representatives of all main politi-cal parties and groups.

Cross-check that local counts at polling stationsor district counting centres tally with publishednational figures.

Te result

When the result is clear, seek comments fromthe winners and losers, the final turnout figure,quick reaction from all of society including theman-in-the-street and independent analysts,and comments from international and domesticmonitors as to the fairness of the poll.

Also seek reaction from abroad, particularlyneighbouring states, and from domestic andinternational financial markets, if available.

Reuters put out a report including reactionwhen it was clear Abbas was heading for vic-tory on the basis of an exit poll. An abridgedversion follows:

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan (Reuters)- Mahmoud Abbas, a Palestinian moderateaiming to talk peace with Israel, was on course

for a landslide victory in Sundays electionfor a successor to Yasser Arafat

Te following is reaction to the exit pollresult:

Israeli Vice-Premier Ehud Olmert: Its ademocratic process and this is in itself enor-mously important because it proves to be theonly democratic process taking place in any

Arab country.

Te main challenges are still ahead. Willhe fight against terrorists and try to stop thebloody war against the state of Israel.

Former Palestinian Security MinisterMohammad Dahlan: I hope Palestinianfactions will reconsider their relations with


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15


the Palestinian Authority and seek betterand more serious relationsIt was a vote

for the future and for hope.

Senior Islamic Jihad Leader Khaled Al-Batsh: We hope Mr Abbas would begin tocarry out the reforms he promised, includingreaching an agreement with factions over theformation of a national unity leadership toprotect out internal front, our Intifada andour resistance.

Dr Stephen P. Cohen, President Of U.S.-Based Institute For Middle East PeaceAnd Development: I think the fact thathes getting such a big percentage is a veryencouraging sign.

DIAA RASHWAN, AL-AHRAM CEN-TRE FOR STRATEGIC AND POLITI-CAL STUDIES, CAIRO: Mahmoud

Abbas will be under real pressure from theIsraelis, the Americans to end the conflict.But I dont think he can make the concessions,on the right of return of refugees, on borders,on Jerusalem and on the sovereignty of thePalestinian state demanded by the Israelisand Americans.

Look beyond the immediate figures of the resultfor the stories behind it, which could be more

interesting in the longer term than a widelyexpected victory.

Was the turnout low, suggesting general voterdisillusionment with politics, and possible roughtimes ahead for the victor?

Was there a surprisingly strong showing by ahitherto unheralded group, indicating a majorpolitical shift in the near future?

Is there a likelihood that defeated parties mightagree to work together in coalition, which coulddramatically alter the political balance?

In U.S. President Richard Nixon sent amessage congratulating West German Chancel-lor Kurt Georg Kiesinger after his conserva-tive coalition appeared to have won elections.

However it failed to get an overall majority andthe Social Democrats came to power with thehelp of the tiny Free Democrats.

Te day after

Reporters do more in-depth interviews of thewinners and losers, as well as further reactionfrom ordinary people, in particular those chosen

earlier in the campaign for special attention.Political correspondents, with the help of in-dependent analysts and others, to look closelyat the election results for any voter patterns orchanges in voter behaviour.

How did women/young people/the elderly/ethnic minorities/ the different regions vote,Collecting registration papers. (IOM)


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and what does this mean for the future of thecountry?

Specialist correspondents to look at futureprospects for the country under the new lead-ership in their various fields foreign affairs,defence, the economy, law and order.

All of this information to be included in afinal wrap-up piece looking at the election, thereaction, including from abroad, and futureprospects.

As an example of the number of news angles thatcan be covered after an election, the followingare headlines of stories covered by Reuters inthe immediate aftermath of the Israeli electionsin February that brought Ariel Sharonto power.

Reuters Israeli Election coverage - Head-

lines Sharon claims all Jerusalem, Palestinians

defiant

Bush urges calm, says give Sharon chancefor peace

Victorious Sharon prays at JerusalemWestern Wall

Sharon aide says Arafat sent letter to newleader

Arafats Fatah says Intifada will topple

Sharon Israels Barak concedes, to quit as Labour

leader

Arabs slam Sharon win, U.S. and EUplead for peace

Larsen says U.N. urges Sharon to moveon peace

Sharon urges Palestinians to pursuedialogue

Palestinians grim on Sharon, joyful onBarak defeat

Arafat hopes peace talks will continue

under Sharon

Lebanon urges world to restrain Sharon

Israels Sharon has tough coalition-building task

ANALYSES/BACKGROUND

Israels Sharon has big challenges, littletime

Sharon may find no partners for changed

peace term Israeli markets, economy want unity

government

Israels northerners recall Sharon thegeneral

Sharons bleak legacy lives on in Lebanon

Sharon is Palestinian nightmare

Can Sharon make peace without even ahandshake?

Israelis see Arafat factor in Sharontriumph

Failure to make peace costs Barak dearly

Israeli left scrambles for new direction,leader

Sharon, an old soldier who wouldnt fadeaway

Possible candidates to replace Barak atLabour

Chequered career of Israels Sharon


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Useful Web-sites

www.osce.org/odhr/?page=election - Guideto OSCE election observer activity, and theirreports, handbook for observers.

www.psr.keele.ac.uk - Lots of links to elec-tion-related sites.

www.aceproject.org - Joint project to provideinformation on electoral systems worldwide.

www.electoral-reform.org.uk - Web-site ofBritains electoral reform society supportschange to proportional representation, but givesarguments for and against all main systems.

www.cnn.com/WORLD/election.watch -CNNs guide lists election results around theworld.

www.ifes.org - Calendar of elections acrossthe world, other data.


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Reporting ElectionsBroadcast Guidelines


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A - Amwell StreetLondon

United Kingdomel: + Fax: + www.article.org

Editors noteTis publication is the work of several organizations and many individuals. Te opinions expressedare those of the authors alone. Tey are not necessarily shared by other partners in this project,including the UNESCO, the United Nations and its agencies.


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3

Reporting elections: Broadcast guidelines

Reporting Elections

Broadcast GuidelinesIntroduction

Te following Guidelines govern the rules andpractice relating to broadcast coverage of elec-tion campaigns. Tey are based on internationalstandards and best comparative practice, andthus represent a goal to which all countries

hosting elections should aspire. Tey set outstandards which should be observed duringelection periods, although they may also berelevant during non-campaign periods.

Most of the Guidelines refer to obligationswhich, strictly speaking, bind the State. It canbe argued that publicly owned or funded broad-casters are directly bound by some of these

obligations. Regardless, the governing authori-ties are obliged to put in place a framework oflaws and other rules that ensures that publicbroadcasters satisfy the relevant obligations. strongly recommends that govern-ment or State broadcasters be transformed intopublic service broadcasters, with independentgoverning boards. At the same time, we are ofthe view that, in most cases, private broadcastersalso have a professional obligation to meet the

standards outlined.

Te Guidelines are drawn from a more detailedset of Guidelines and commentary publishedby , Global Campaign for Free Ex-pression, Guidlins for Elction Broadcastingin Transitional Dmocracis, and the presentversion has been adapted slightly to focus on

issues facing the media in Iraq during its firstdemocratic elections.

Te Guidelines can be grouped into four maincategories: the duty to inform; rules regardingelection coverage; protection for freedom ofexpression during elections; and implemen-tation/applicability of the guidelines. Teseissues are addressed below both in specificGuidelines and in the commentary which ac-companies them.

It may be noted that, throughout, the Guidelinesrefer to parties or candidates. Tis is both toensure their relevance to elections focusingon individuals (as in presidential elections)and to cover situations involving independentcandidates.

Summary of the

Guidelines

Te Guidelines address a number of differ-ent issues. Tis summary breaks these downinto four categories: the duty to inform; rulesregarding election coverage; protection forfreedom of expression during elections; andimplementation/applicability of the guidelines.Te Guidelines are summarised below according

to these categories.

(London: ). Available at www.article.org/docimages/.htm


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Te Duty to Inform:

public media have a general duty to inform

the public about matters relevant to theelections (Guideline )

parties or candidates have a right to airtimefor direct access programmes on a fair andnon-discriminatory basis (Guideline )

the media have an obligation to providespecial information programmes (Guideline)

the media have an obligation to ensure vot-ers understand how to exercise their vote

(Guideline )

Rules Regarding Election Coverage:

the media have a duty of balance and im-partiality (Guideline )

the duty of balance and impartiality isparticularly important in relation to newsprogrammes (Guideline )

the media have a duty to provide necessary

information to understand the significanceof any opinion polls broadcast (Guideline)

both sides in a referendum vote should begranted equal time in the media (Guideline)

Protection for Freedom of Expression Dur-

ing Elections:

laws that illegitimately restrict freedom of

expression should be repealed (Guideline ) the authorities should investigate threats

and attacks on the media (Guideline )

neither the authorities nor the media shouldcensor election programmes in any way(Guideline )

the media have a right to be exempted fromlegal liability for unlawful statements by

candidates made during election broadcasts(Guideline )

Implementation/applicability of theGuidelines:

a right of correction or reply should beavailable in response to illegal statements(Guideline )

an independent, impartial body should beestablished/appointed to monitor electionbroadcasts and hear complaints (Guideline)

decisions of this body should be subject tojudicial review (Guideline )

the Guidelines also apply to local and re-gional elections (Guideline )


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Guidelines for ElectionBroadcasting

Guideline : Duty to Inform thePublic

Guideline During the period preceding an election,publicly owned or funded media have aduty to ensure that the public are informedabout relevant electoral matters such as thepolitical parties, candidates, campaign issuesand voting processes.

Commentary: States obligation to ensure thatEvery citizen shall have the right and opportu-nity, without [distinction of any kind] ... to voteand to be elected at genuine periodic elections(see Article of the International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights) obliges the authori-

ties to ensure that electors have the necessaryinformation to register and vote, and to makeinformed choices regarding the elections.

Tis obligation is particularly onerous wherethe electorate have not had prior experience ofvoting in free and fair elections, as is the case inIraq at present. Although it is open to the Stateto determine how to satisfy this obligation, pub-licly owned or funded media, and particularly

broadcasters, are an ideal means.

Guideline : Duty of Balance andImpartiality

Guideline

Publicly owned or funded media have aduty to be balanced and impartial in their

election reporting and not to discriminateagainst any political party or candidate.

Other broadcasters may also be placed undera duty of balance and impartiality.

Guideline .

Tis duty requires that news, current affairs,interview and information programmesmust not be biased in favour of, or against,any party or candidate.

Commentary:States obligation of balance

and impartiality derives directly from the fun-damental rights of voters and candidates tofreedom of expression and information, andnon-dis

iraq - a reporter’s guide to election coverage

Documents