III. DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT NATIONAL ELECTIONS LAW AND THE DRAFT ELECTION COMMISSIONS LAW

P. Early voting

Article 32 of the draft national elections law provides for an early voting process for a period of “9 to 1 days prior to the voting day.” Such a substantial opportunity for early voting is difficult to regulate in a transparent manner and could significantly increase the opportunity for electoral fraud.[1]Early voting, in addition to placing a greater burden on election administration, also significantly hinders observation efforts. The burden placed on observer organisations and candidate representatives is substantial. The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR therefore recommend that Article 32 be amended to reduce the number of days, as well as hours, for early voting and to provide necessary safeguards against potential fraud. This will provide observers and candidate representatives with a reasonable opportunity to observe the early voting process. In addition, the precinct election commission members who administer early voting should be representative of the various entities eligible to nominate commission members.

[1] Prior OSCE/ODIHR reports have noted that electoral fraud is much more prevalent with early voting and mobile voting than with regular voting in a polling station on election day.