IPS-News, here
"When Lebanon heads to the polls Jun. 7 to decide whether the Hizbullah-led opposition alliance will unseat the ruling Western-backed coalition, voter anonymity could be compromised by shortcomings in the 2008 parliamentary election law.
"The new law is a disaster," Paul Sawaya, Beirut district coordinator with the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections told IPS. "Some of the reforms are good, but many others still need to be adopted."
Reforms under the current law require voters to enter private booths, seal their ballots in official envelopes, slide them into transparent ballot boxes, and dip their thumbs in indelible ink. These reforms, while championed by local watchdog organisations, fail to address a source of corruption that has altered Lebanese elections for decades - the lack of official standardised ballots.
The proposal for an official ballot listing all eligible candidates in each electoral district was rejected along with other reforms designed to promote fair and democratic elections when the finalised electoral law was adopted in September 2008.
"All parties said they were with the pre-printed ballots, but when it came to parliament, no one voted for it," Lynne Ghossein, programme director at the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) told IPS. "The current system provides a means to buy votes, so of course political figures did not want this reform."
According to Sawaya, ballot papers are typically produced by political parties in each district and list only the candidates they endorse for each seat. If voters opt to forego pre-printed party ballots, they may write the names of candidates they wish to elect on a blank piece of paper. The current law explicitly states, however, that any ballot papers containing identification marks shall be considered spoilt. This inherent contradiction leaves the validity of write-in ballots at the discretion of polling officials.
The party ballots can be meticulously tailored through font size, layout and design before being distributed to families. "This system allows electoral machines to track who is voting for them," Sawaya told IPS.
The law permits party agents to monitor polling stations, ballot counting, and ballot reviews, providing them ample opportunity to identify these embedded distinguishing ballot features during the election. Without an official ballot, parties can effectively intimidate voters and offer in-kind and cash incentives by monitoring their compliance at the polls.
Jean-Michel Abouhamad de Tarrazi who is managing the campaign for his mother Gilberte Zwein, MP, told IPS, "The influence of money in this election is a disaster. My mother is in a really good position, but things will depend on how many people her opponents are able to bribe. If they can buy a few thousand people, it could definitely change the outcome." ..."
Posted by G, Z, & or B at
1:55 PM
Reuters, here
"...Bribery has been common in previous elections but analysts -- and some candidates -- say it is worse this time because the two rival camps are almost evenly matched and foreign powers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran want to sway the outcome....
Some voters in Lebanon, which ranks 101st out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption perception index, are more than happy to accept the free health services, tuition fees and cash some candidates dole out..."
Posted by G, Z, & or B at
10:34 AM
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