This conference was of great significance in the life of our Association, because this was the first time when the ACEEEO conference was held out of the Central and Eastern European region, that was in London, United Kingdom, in 23-25 October 2003.
The scene of the conference symbolises our future goal that was, according to the Charter of the ACEEEO, to become a Pan-European organization. However, we could not accomplish to break out from the regional isolation on our own without the support of the other European countries and the European Union. It is an important advantage of the ACEEEO being at home in every member country. If the association were at home in all the European countries it could play a very effective catalyst role in the implementation of democratic principles and requirements.
The development of democratism and professionalism of the elections is the responsibility of every single country but it would go much easier if the Western and the Eastern European election experts co-operated. We have already experienced from the information technology solutions that the connection of two independent networks triples the possibility of the good results. We can achieve the common goal more quickly and more effectively with a Pan-European view.
The main topic of the 12th annual conference was Media and Elections and the Electronic-voting. Like in the last year, excellent experts accepted our invitation as speakers, who are acknowledged and honoured figures in the world of elections. Hereby, we would like to express our appreciation to The UK Electoral Commission for its great contribution to the success of the conference and to the Association of Electoral Administrators of the United Kingdom for its assistance.