Election observers are applauding a decision by the National Election Committee to stop requiring that all educational materials for the upcoming commune elections receive its seal of approval.
“They wiped out censorship,” said Eric Kessler, director of the National Democratic Institute, a US nonprofit that advises voter education programs. “It’s a positive development in the election process, which is hard to find these days.”
The NEC’s regulation required approval of all election-related documents, including videos, recordings, leaflets, books, texts and pictures in newspapers, and “pictures or slogans published on T-shirts or hats” produced by any organization. Kessler estimated that would have included up to 1,000 different pieces of material. A backlog of material had already started, with one television spot sitting at the NEC for up to two weeks before it was reviewed.
The NEC had also rejected a voters’ education television ad because farmers who were shown talking in a field about the elections appeared too clean and were wearing makeup.
“We’re happy to hear that,” [the regulations have changed] said Tive Sarayeth, co-director of public relations for the Women’s Media Center.
The new regulations will speed the production of planned weekly television spots, she said.
Election monitors and observers met with the NEC last week to discuss the review process. The NEC voted Monday to make the reviews voluntary rather than mandatory, adopting new language suggested by the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights.
In June the NEC sent letters to television and radio stations forbidding election-related spots to air without its approval. Kessler suggested that the NEC should soon send a new round of letters to the stations canceling that requirement. The new regulations may encourage international donors to hand over election aid, said British Ambassador Stephen Bridges. Government officials say such aid has been promised but not been delivered.
“It’s going to prove to the skeptics out there that the NEC is prepared to work very closely with civil society and the international community,” Bridges said.
