MODERN TECHNOLOGIES AND THE DEMOCRACY PROCESSES
Chapter 4
4.4. IT and Electoral Campaigns
Wide dissemination of IT contributes to the creation of favorable conditions for ensuring transparency of electoral processes. An Automated Information System “Elections” has been operating in Azerbaijan since November 2, 2000.
At polling stations, in accordance with the structure of the State Automated Infor-mation System, the process of voting and information transfer shall be automated at three levels:
- At the Information Center of the Central Electoral Commission;
- At the information station of the District Electoral Commission;
- At the information station of the Precinct Electoral Commission.
The Information Center “Elections” has been established under the Central Electoral Commission to organize the activity of the State Automated Information System. The Information Center is equipped with modern computing devices and telecommunications.
The Center, using the State Communications System, receives information from district and precinct electoral stations. The Information Center is capable of receiving information simultaneously from 32 stations and precincts. The information, after being gathered at the Server, is then passed to a board that stands in the observation hall.
One of the most important functions of the system is to establish links between district and precinct stations and the Information Center. With the purpose of notifying the community about the data accumulated at the Center, during elections, there is a regular update at a special Internet page of the Central Electoral Commission at CEC.gov.az.
This system was used for the first time during the elections for the Parliament Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic on November 5, 2000. With the use of this system, information about the voting process and its results from all District Electoral Commissions located in indivi-dual provinces was passed on to the Center and, with the use of television transmitters, made public to international observers, mass media and the community.
In order to improve the State Automated Information System, Electronic Ballot Boxes were installed at one of the electoral stations during the Parliamentary elections on January 7, 2001. These ballot boxes were used to automate the process of voting and the counting procedure.
Introduction of new technological means and the upgrading of those electoral processes, which already exist, are expected to take place in future. Transparent ballot boxes were already used in the Presidential Elections of October 2003 to strengthen people's trust in the electoral processes. This technical innovation should reduce the level of possible violations during the voting procedure. Another innovation, which was launched in 2003, was the new requirement of putting the ballots into envelopes prior to placing them in the ballot boxes. These and other measures, which are undertaken by the national government, are designed to promote free and fair elections in Azerbaijan.
Wide use of IT during the electoral campaigns is gradually becoming the norm for the majority of political parties in the country. Many leading political organizations and individual politicians have created Web pages where visitors can become acquainted with party documents and electoral programs, ask questions and receive answers by e-mail. Hence, opportunities for direct contact between electors and nominees for Members of Parliament or the Presidency are being created. All these measures are important for eliminating violations that were recorded during previous elections at individual electoral stations by international observers and representatives of opposition parties.
In addition, according to some national and foreign experts, organizing and conducting elections at various levels requires further democratic reforms. ICT is an important tool for both the study of the best existing practices and for the application of the most progressive technologies of organization and conduc-tion of elections.
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