Al Mezan Requests Cancellation of the CEC's Decision Allowing Unregistered Citizens to Vote in the Civil-Registry Polling Centers
By Al Mezan
January 15, 2005

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On 9 January 2005, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights sent a written request to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to cancel its decision allowing citizens whose names are not enlisted in the Civil Registry polling centers to vote, and not to credit the results of these centers.

The Center pronounced its request to the CEC following the announcement of the decision at about 5pm on the Election Day and considered the decision to be lawless. In addition to the fact that this decision breaches the law, which rules that only registered Palestinians can vote and that only in the polling stations they are enlisted in, the Center's observers reported that the Civil Registry polling centers witnessed serious chaos and breaches of the law following the announcement of the CEC's decision. The Center collected evidence that some people voted three and four times and others voted while they were under 18-years-old. Moreover, the Civil Registry polling centers witnessed big campaigns on the Election Day while the police and the center's committees were not able to keep the order, and the observers unable to watch the process adequately.

Al Mezan, with numerous other interested NGOs as well as the CEC, had worked very hard to ensure maximum lawfulness and integrity of the Palestinian Presidential Elections, and regrets to witness such a breach of the law. The Center calls upon the CEC to cancel its decision and to reorganize the elections in the Civil Registry polling centers.

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