Home > 3 Electoral systems > KYRGYZ REPUBLIC - Joint Opinion on the Draft Law on Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, The Draft Law on Elections to Local Governments and the Draft Law on the Formation of Election Commissions
 
 
 
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IV. DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT LOCAL ELECTION LAW


Electoral systems for local elections


Based on the above text in Article 30, it would appear that each voter receives a “female ballot”, “male ballot”, and “male and female (mixed group ballot)”. Article 65 provides that “the candidate is considered as elected (in accordance with the number of mandates), receiving the greatest number of votes”. However, as Article 60(1) states that the “number of multi-member constituencies and the number of mandates in each of them determined by the relevant election commissions in accordance with requirements provided for in legislation”, and no other article describes how mandates are to be allocated, it is impossible to assess how Article 65 is applied to a real election.  Are there three separate allocations (female, male, and male/female) in each multi-member constituency, or are there female multi-mandate constituencies, male multi-mandate constituencies, and male/female multi-mandate constituencies? Can one “relevant election commission” choose the former while another commission chooses the latter? Thus, it is impossible to assess the electoral system and the merits of the “female ballot”, “male ballot”, and “male and female (mixed group ballot)”. The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommend that the draft law be revised to provide an electoral system for local elections that can be reviewed and assessed on the written text and to clarify how the winners (female, male, male/female) are determined in local elections. In addition, the draft local elections law should be revised to ensure representation of women and men in local governments.