CNDH ORGANIZES AND COORDINATES QUALITATIVE OBSERVATION OF REFERENDUM ON DRAFT CONSTITUTION

In line with its mandate and prerogatives, as stipulated in article 25 of its creating law, the (Moroccan) National Human Rights Council (CNDH), in coordination with Ministry of Interior’s competent departments, observed the referendum on the draft constitution, on July 1st, 2011.

This observation concerned several cities, namely Casablanca, Rabat, Laayoune, Agadir, Safi, Dakhla, Tangier, Boujdour, Bouaarfa and Smara.

The Council organized a training session on the international and national standards of observation for its observers. The first part of this training session was supervised by an international expert and the second by a Moroccan expert. CNDH, through the former Advisory Council on Human Rights, coordinated the observation of the legislative elections of 1997 and the communal elections of 2009.

In addition to its own observers, CNDH coordinated and supervised, in accordance with article 21 of its creating law, 184 civil society observers at 493 polling stations in 36 prefectures and provinces.

The referendum observers were deployed in polling stations in the abovementioned selected cities. They all received badges to facilitate their tasks.

CNDH 48 observers filled two questionnaires, one related to the voting process and the other to the last two days of the referendum campaign. The Council is also monitoring media coverage, mainly through articles of printed and web newspapers.

In relation to the referendum campaign, the observers oversaw compliance with applicable laws, availability of equipments required for the referendum and respect of the necessary voting conditions, in accordance with the relevant international standards.

The Ministry of Interior facilitated the work of the Council. A circular was sent to the local competent authorities to facilitate access to polling stations for the observers.

The observers covered 147 polling stations. To meet the objectives of the observation, each observer visited three polling stations. S/he should thus observe the opening phase of the polling station, the voting phase (in another polling station) and the final (counting) phase (in a different station).

Some CNDH observers will be present in the final phase of the referendum, to be held on July 8, 2011, pursuant to the provisions of the Electoral Code. This final phase (which precedes the announcement of results by the Constitutional Council) will be carried out by provincial committees chaired by presidents of the courts of first instance.

A steering committee supervised the work of the observers. It processed data received from the observers to prepare a preliminary report. A comprehensive report, prepared following standards adopted by the Council in this context, will be published later.

In general, we can say that the referendum on the draft constitution was held in compliance with the relevant legal provisions and that there were no documented irregularities.

The Council’s final report will include proposals and recommendations on the reforms the Council deems necessary to introduce into the elections legal arsenal. It will depend on its previous experience in the field and take into consideration other countries’ good practices.