This Brochure of the 15th Int'l Electoral Symposium outlines the event's agenda and speakers' profiles.
Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) along with the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) and the support of ECES via the programme ‘EU Support to Jordanian Democratic Institutions & Development, EU-JDID', hosted the 15th International Electoral Symposium and International Awards Ceremony in Jordan from the 4th until 6th of December 2017.
The conference brought together more than 200 participants from the electoral democracy community from over 50 different countries. Almost half of participants were representatives of election management bodies (EMBs) from different parts of of the world. The event also counted on the participation of around 70 representatives of organisations actively involved in democracy and electoral support, such as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), international organisations, embassies, academic institutions etc. In addition to this, representatives of national parliaments, local governments and service-supply providers were present.
The opening ceremony was inaugurated by Matt Gokhool, Chief Executive; Monica Frassoni, ECES President; Egidijus Navikas, Head of the Political Section of the EU Delegation to Jordan; Jim Barnhart, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the United States of America and Khalid Al-Kalaldeh, Chairman of the IEC. Faisal Al-Fayez, President of the Senate in Jordan, closed the opening session on behalf of the Royal Court.
ECES’ President and ECES Executive Director, Fabio Bargiacchi, led the discussions on the panels dedicated to:
- Preventing, Managing and Mediating Electoral Violence along with representatives of EMBs of Colombia, Kosovo, Burkina Faso and Jordan;
- Technical Specifications for the Application of ISO technical specifications 9001:2008 for Electoral Organisations in collaboration with the IEC of Jordan and Maria Teresa Mellenkamp, Deputy Director, Electoral Department of the Organisation of American States (OAS);
- Capacity Building Programmes for EMBs including the training curriculum on "Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders" and the on line Master on Electoral Policy and Administration, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.
In addition to these, additional high-level discussions focused on the following aspects:
- Fostering Regional Cooperation and Regional Networks,
- the Role of Training and Development for EMB’s to Promote Democracy and Build Trust among Voters;
- Engaging the Youth Electorate and Attracting First-Time Voters;
- the Role of Social Media, Cyber Threats and Digitalisation in Election;
- Elections as Means to Forming Parliamentary Elected Governments.
As co-organizers ECES President and ECES Executive Director were asked to deliver two of the International Electoral Awards. The ones for the International Institutional Engagement and Gender Equality. Here below the complete list of the awards and hononorable mentions.
International Institutional Engagement Award
Winner:
Electoral Integrity Project, Australia
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Dr. Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, National Election Observation Committee (NEOC), Nepal
Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Sri Lanka
Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary of Mexico
Electoral Conflict Management Award
Winners:
Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC-Georgia)
National Electoral Council of Colombia (CNE-Colombia)
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Emilio Rosatti, Electoral Secretary, SantaFe district, National Electoral Chamber of Argentina
Noor Ali Jabarkhail, Former Head of External Relations Department, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
Accessibility Award
Winners:
National Electoral Council of Ecuador (CNE-Ecuador)
Commission on Elections of Philippines (COMELEC)
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
Civil Network "OPORA", Ukraine
Gender Equality Award
Winners:
Women for Election, Ireland
Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary of Mexico
Ila Sharma, Election Commissioner, The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN)
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Central Elections Commission of Palestine (CEC-Palestine)
Matthew Faimalomatumua Lemisio, Electoral Commissioner, Office of The Electoral Commissioner, Samoa
Minority Participation Award
Winners:
Elections Ontario, Canada
Election Commission of Sri Lanka
Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary of Mexico
Election Management Award
Winners:
Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kosovo
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Canton of Geneva, Switzerland
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)
National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE)
Citizens' Engagement Award
Winners:
Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC-Georgia)
Independent Electoral Commission of Botswana (IEC-Botswana)
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Central Election Commission of Bulgaria
Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India
First Time Voter Award
Winner:
Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Office, USA
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania (PEA)
The League of young voters, UK
Electoral Ergonomy Award
Winner:
Dean C. Logan, County Clerk, The Los Angeles County Registrar, USA
Honourable mentions for outstanding achievements:
Denver Elections Division, USA
General Election Commission of Mongolia (GECM)
ICPS Award for outstanding contribution to the application of legal principles to the electoral field:
Winner:
Mrs. Lefterije Lleshi, Albania
Commissioner of the Year:
Winner:
Mr. Hisham Kuhail, CEO, Central Election Commission of Palestine
Commission of the Year:
Winners:
Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary of Mexico
AND
National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE)
Click on the following link to access the Brochure of the Symposium with the detailed agenda of the event and the profile of the speakers.
