Presented by:
Amir Somji
Electoral Commissioner
Of the World Federation of KSIMC
16 August 2004
Comments on this paper is now sought from members, jamaats and interested individuals. These comments should be sent to electionsop@world-federation.org by 31st December 2004. All comments will be acknowledged and responded to within 21 working days. The paper will be formally adopted at the 3rd Executive Council meeting of the World Federation of KSIMC.
INDEX
- Introduction
- Current Electoral Process
- Proposed Electoral Process
- The Electoral Commissioner
- The Electoral Commission
- The Electoral Register
- Registration
- Elections
1. Introduction
1.1 The objective of this document is to provide a draft protocol for the Standard Operating Procedure for electing the president of the World Federation of KSIMC.
1.2 This protocol will need to be formally adopted by the Executive Council before it can be implemented.
1.3 The World Federation constitution has explicitly provided for the involvement of the Electoral Commissioner in the electoral process:
a. Clause 20.1.1 the Electoral Commissioner’s invitation to the
candidates
b. Clause 20.2 the process to be adopted once candidates have been
nominated
c. Clause 20.3 the counting of the votes and the declaration of the
results
d. Clause 20.4.3 the process if no eligible nominations have been
received by the due date
1.4 The issues that have not categorically been addressed in the World Federation constitution are as follows:
a. the time frame of the elections itself in various parts of the world
b. who is entitled to vote
c. the minimum age for voting
d. the appointment of returning officers
e. eligibility of gender for voting
f. eligibility of gender for presidential nomination
g. the creation of an electoral register, formalising the registration
process within constituent Jamaats
h. the workings of the Commission
i. monitoring World Federation resources for electioneering purposes
2. The Current Electoral Process
The following are as stated in the constitution of the World Federation of KSIMC:
2.1 Three months before the end of the term, the Electoral Commissioner will invite nominations for Presidential candidates.
2.2 Within 30 days of the said notice the Electoral Commissioner must receive the eligible nominations.
2.3 If no nominations are received then the process as set out in clause 20.4.3 of the World Federation constitution will take effect.
2.4 If only one eligible nomination is received then the Electoral Commission will declare the candidate the President duly elected unopposed.
2.5 If more than one eligible nomination is received then the Electoral Commissioner within 7 days after the closing of the submission for the nominations will send all members the nominations and invite them to vote on the nominations.
2.6 The members will organise the elections in their respective constituencies within the 21 days and submit the votes to the Electoral Commissioner by post at least 30 days before the end of the term of the President.
2.7 The Electoral Commissioner will be responsible for counting the votes and declaring the results.
3. The Proposed Electoral Process
3.1 Three months before the end of term of the President, the Electoral Commissioner will invite nominations for the post of the President.
3.2 The Elections are to take place over a period of three consecutive days, giving constituent Jamaats the choice of selecting the most suitable day.
3.3 Three months before the end of the presidential term, the Electoral Commissioner will declare these 3 consecutive days when the elections should be held.
3.4 The Electoral Commissioner will send all members the Electoral Register for their Jamaats. This will be done on the same day as number 1 and 2 above.
3.5 The Electoral Commissioner must receive eligible nominations within 30 days from the invitation for candidates.
3.6 Candidates for presidential elections can be either male or female, provided that the individual is a registered member of a KSIMC constituent Jamaat.
3.7 If no nominations are received then the process as set out in clause 20.4.3 of the World Federation constitution will take effect.
3.8 If only one eligible nomination is received then the Electoral Commissioner will declare the candidate President duly elected unopposed.
3.9 If more than one eligible nomination is received then the Electoral Commissioner, will activate the electoral process within 7 days after the closing date for the nominations.
3.10 The members will organise the elections on any one of the three days set by the Electoral Commissioner in their respective areas and submit its votes and the voters list to the Electoral Commissioner by post, at least 30 days before the end of the term of the President.
3.11 The Electoral Commissioner will count the votes and declare the result.
4. The Electoral Commissioner
The duties are as detailed by the constitution of the World Federation of KSIMC:
4.1 Clause 20.1.1 At least three months before the end of the term of office of the President, the Electoral Commissioner shall issue a notice to all members inviting written nominations within thirty (30) days of such notice for a candidate for the office of the next term of three years.
4.2 Clause 20.2 The Electoral Commissioner shall within a period of seven (7) days after the closing date for the submission of the nominations, send to members all such nominations received by him in response to the notice and ask all members to vote on the nominations. Each member shall submit its votes to the Electoral Commissioner by post at least 30 days before the end of the term of office of the President.
4.3 Clause 20.3 The Executive Council of the Federation shall appoint two Executive Councillors to witness the counting of the votes. The Electoral Commissioner will declare the result of the vote. The Electoral Commissioner will declare the candidate with the largest number of votes as the duly elected President of the World Federation.
4.4 Candidates have to be nominated by constituent member Jamaats of the World Federation.
4.5 As per the Constitution, the nominations are to be received by the Electoral Commissioner and this will be at the address of the World Federation Secretariat.
5. The Electoral Commission
5.1 The Electoral Commission will be the committee set up to assist the Electoral Commissioner in his duties. The mandate for the committee will derive from the Executive Council, to ensure the smooth running of the electoral process.
5.2 Its members will be appointed by the Electoral Commissioner on a voluntary basis and will be directed by him to perform the necessary.
5.3 The Commission will be responsible for creating and maintaining a register of voters, which will be updated for every election.
5.4 The Electoral Commissioner through the workings of the Commission will monitor and conduct all the World Federation non-presidential elections.
5.5 The Commission’s address will be the same as the World Federation Secretariat.
5.6 Whilst utilising the facilities provided by the World Federation Secretariat, the commission will at all times maintain its independence and autonomy.
5.7 The Commission will be responsible for all its correspondence.
5.8 All complaints regarding registration by either individuals or constituent Jamaats should be forwarded to the Commission.
5.9 Complaints regarding registration or the electoral process will be subject to arbitration conducted by the Commission.
5.10 The Commission will ensure that the register complies with all relevant UK legislation, such as the Data Protection Act.
5.11 The Commission will ensure that compliance with the registration process will guarantee voting rights.
5.12 The Commission will monitor the usage of the World Federation resources.
5.13 The Commission may provide certain assistance, such as use of the World Federation website for their manifestos and/or question and answers, and provision of the mailing lists.
5.14 The expressed permission of the Commission and not of the Secretariat will need to be sought in writing for electioneering, such as campaign trails and usage of the World Federation resources.
5.15 Serving Officers can be candidates and do not have to relinquish their posts, as the electoral process is completely independent of the Secretariat.
Appeal process:
• Both parties should sign a declaration agreeing to be bound by the
decision of the arbitrator and to maintain silence on the matter
thereafter.No retorts shall be answered by either party under any
circumstances, be it provoked or otherwise.
• Once the declaration has been signed, both parties would have 2
weeks (a definite date stipulated by the arbitrator) to submit their
evidence & arguments as to why their view should be upheld.
• The arbitrator would then have four weeks to deliberate on the
submissions (and to seek further clarification), which would then
be posted to the two parties for their consideration.
• After two weeks both parties would write to the arbitrator either
agreeing or disagreeing with the initial adjudication.
• Thereafter, a week later, a hearing would be held when both parties
would appear before the arbitrator and hear the final decision.
In ten weeks the dispute is resolved and silenced.
6. The Electoral Register
6.1 The Electoral Commission is responsible for creating and maintaining a register of voters entitled to vote for the President of the World Federation of KSIMC.
6.2 All individuals, male and female, over the age of 16 years will qualify for registration. However, only those having attained a minimum age of 18 years at the date of the elections will be entitled to vote.
6.3 The registration form will be universal for all World Federation constituent Jamaats to ensure uniformity of information.
6.4 The Register will record the following details: Full Name, Full Address, Date of Birth and Signature.
6.5 The Central Register will be electronically (computerised) managed and maintained by the Commission.
6.6 The cut off date for registration will be 120 days before the end of the three year term of the President. Only individuals on the register at this date will be entitled to vote. Each registrant will have a unique registration number.
6.7 All information on the Register will be fully confidential and only the Commission will have access to it.
6.8 The Commission will make information available to the World Federation to assist with planning and policy making.
6.9 The information in the mailing list that can be made available to interested third parties including the Electoral Candidates will only contain names and addresses of individuals and the Commission will charge for this information to all except the World Federation. Information will be provided at the discretion of the Commission.
6.10 The World Federation’s mailing list can be made available to the candidates but only with the express permission of the Commission.
7. Registration
7.1 All individuals, male and female, over the age of 16 years wishing to register will have to complete a registration form. These forms will be sent to all households and made available at all the constituent Jamaats.
7.2 The registration forms will be provided by the Commission to all constituent Jamaats, who will be responsible for the submission of the forms within the allotted time frame. The constituent Jamaat will retain a copy of the form for its records.
7.3 The forms will clearly state that the information provided will be kept confidential and is for the purposes of creating an electoral register.
7.4 The registration form will formally seek individual’s consent for disclosing information to any third party (ies).
7.5 All individuals who have attained the age of 18, male and female, and are members of constituent Jamaats will qualify to vote, provided they have registered.
7.6 The Commission will send to all registered individuals a copy of their details on the database for verification, by sending the forms to the constituent Jamaats for distribution. This cost will be borne by the Commission. Subsequently, this exercise will be performed every three years. i.e. a year before the elections is due.
8. Elections
8.1 The Commission will set the date of Election over three consecutive days. The Elections will take place in all constituent Jamaats on one of these three days without exception.
8.2 The Commission will send to all registered voters, male and female, via their Constituent Jamaat a voting card entitling them to vote at the World Federation presidential elections.
8.3 The Commission will send the constituent Jamaat voting lists from the Electoral Register and invite the individuals to cast their vote.
8.4 As a matter of protocol, all constituent Jamaats’ President and Secretary are to be appointed as Returning Officers for the purposes of the presidential elections and are to report directly to the Commission.
8.5 The returning officers will be responsible for the counting of the votes and announcing the results locally.
8.6 The result notification and the voters list, signed by the Returning Officers, must be sent to the Commission at the Secretariat’s address for the Electoral Commissioner to count and declare the results globally.
8.7 Proxy, Postal and all types of electronic voting will not be permitted.