18th Annual Conference of the ACEEEO in Yerevan, Armenia

Date of the event:

Thursday, September 3, 2009 to Saturday, September 5, 2009

It has been the 18^th time so far that the Annual Conference of the Association of European Election Officials (ACEEEO) was organized. In 2009 participants of the professional yearly gathering discussed the ‘Judicial protections of electoral rights’.

On the 18^thAnnual Conference 15 ACEEEO member countries’ representatives were present. All together with these ACEEEO member countires participants have come from 32 countries from all over the world. Within this more than 150 participants we were glad to welcome also representatives of different international organizations, such as for example IFES (International Foundation for Electoral Systems), OSCE/ODIHR, European Commission, International IDEA, UNDP, USAID and also representative of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

Participants and organizers of the conference were honored with special and high-ranking lecturers and guests, namely for example Dr. Peter Paczolay, President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary and member of the Venice Commission, Mr. Pierre Garrone, Head of the Division of the Venice Commission, Mr. Harutyunyan Gagik, President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, Mr. William Sweeny, President/CEO of the IFES and Mr. William Hybl, Vice-Chairman of the Board of directors of the IFES.

On the first day of the Conference (3rd September 2009) participants listened presentations on the judicial protection of electoral rights from different points of view. These persentations and debates, with the participation of election experts and professionals, made possible the most comprehensive discussion of the main topic of the conference: not only from the aspect of the courts and the law, but also from the point of view of election organizers, mass media and citizens who participte in election processes. All presentations are available on the website of the Associaton (www.aceeeo.org).

On the second conference day (4th September 2009), on the basis of the previous day’s presentations two simultaneous worskhop talked over the judicial protection of electoral rights on a deeper and more personal level. This day’s speciality was that one of the workshops chosed the BRIDGE thematics (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections – www.bridge-project.org) to brighten and negotiate difficulties and problems of the election commissions. This short insight into a BRIDGE course proved to be very interesting, amusing and it provided the election professional participants with an unexpected activity that they openly accepted. ACEEEO, as associate partner and regional centre of Central and Eastern Europe of ACE Electoral Knowledge Network (www.aceproject.org), and partner of the International IDEA also received the possibility to popularize BRDIGE project among its member countries. Moreover, in case of a need the Association could involve election commissions to participate in such formation. This is the background of this short BRDIGE presentation that was structured and moderated by the help of the Armenian ACE Regional Centre, the RBI.

Beside the new methods the conference also gave the possibility to discuss more scientific parts of the election processes: with the leadership of Mr. Andras Keil, researcher of the Hungarian “Republikon Intézet” (Republican Institute) sociologists from 5 different countries were discussing the reasons of regressing participation in elections by analyzing voters’ habits in election processes. The participating sociologists have drafted their final recommendations that are also available on the Association’s website.

On the third conference day, the General Assembly meeting of the Association took place (5^th September 2009) together with exposition of the “Recommendations of the 18^th ACEEEO conference regarding the Judicial Protections of Electoral Rights”. In the frame of the General Assembly meeting the professional and financial annual report of the Association were presented, and the General Assembly voted for the place of the upcoming Executive Board meeting in 2010 and the for the place and subject of the 19^th annual conference of the Association. One of the most important results of the General Assembly meeting was the acceptance of setting up a Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) that in 2010-2011 would work out the refreshment of the strategy of the Association to the following 5 years’ period. According to the decision of the General Assembly the 19^th annual conference of the Association will be held in Georgia, in September 2009, and the subject in focus is going to be the analysis of the voters’ registration. It will be in Georgia then that the results of the 2 years long project of the Association, entitled: “Developing accurate voters’ list in transitional democracies”, supported by the UNDEF will be presented to the public. A decision was made also of the place of the 20th jubilee anniversary conference of the ACEEEO that will be organized in Budapest, Hungary in 2011.

The annual conference of 2009 of the ACEEEO elucidated more the important impartial and non-political role of the Association in the political life of Europe. Guests and delegations of the conference had to leave all their political related conflicts that might exist between some countries outside of the borders of Armenia. Thanks to Mr. Sweeny, the new president of the IFES, the most important quality of the Association was emphasized several times during the discussions. This so important value stands in the equal rights of the members of the Association as much as in its functionning that matches to the principles of democracy.

The excellent hospitality of the Central Election Commission of Armenia has to be mentioned also as much as the lovely cultural programs they have organized for the participants. Thank You, for being the partners of the ACEEEO Secretariat in the organizational process of the 18^th ACEEEO conference. And thanks for all participants, who have come to Yerevan to discuss these important questions of the rights of voters. See you next year in Georgia!

Agenda and Presentations

Presentations will be uploaded soon on this new website. Thank you for your patience!

1st day (Thursday, 3 September 2009)

9.00 – 12.00 Registration of participants and guests

9.00 – 10.00 ACEEEO Executive Board meeting

Chair: Garegin Azaryan, President, Central Election Commission of Armenia,President, ACEEEO

10.00 – 10.30 Opening ceremony

Chair: Garegin Azaryan, President, Central Election Commission of Armenia, President, ACEEEO

Welcome speeches:

Hovik Abrahamyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia

Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General, ACEEEO

Carel Hofstra, Deputy Head of the OSCE office in Armenia

Opening speeches of the Exhibition of the Suppliers of Election Equipment and Services:

Richard W. Soudriette, President, Centre for Diplomacy and Democracy

William Hybl, Vice Chairman, Board of IFES

Stanislav V. Vavilov, Vice-president, CEC of Russian Federation – The impact of today’s information technique on electoral processes

Opening of the Exhibition of the Suppliers of the Election Equipment and Services

10.30 – 10.45 Press Conference

10.45 – 11.00 Coffee Break

11.00 – 12.15 Plenary session I. Judicial protection of electoral rights

Chair: Zenonas Vaigauskas, Chairman, CEC of Lithuania

Speakers:

Gagik Arutyunyan, President, Constitutional Court of Armenia

Dr. Peter Paczolay, President, Constitutional Court of Hungary, Member of the Venice Commission

Hector Davalos Martinez, Member of Federal Electoral Court of Mexico

Arnis Cimdars, Chairman of the CEC of Latvia – Judgments in contested election cases: the Latvian experience

Stanislav V. Vavilov, Vice-president, CEC of Russian Federation – Abuses and their effective prevention in electoral processes

Tigran Mukuchyan, President, Administrative Tribunal of Armenia

12.15 - 13.30 Lunch (Restaurant of Ani Plaza Hotel) – in honour of the Constitutional Courts

13.30 – 15. 00 Plenary session II. Judicial protection of electoral rights (Ani room)

Chair: Arnis Cimdars, Chairman, CEC of Latvia

Speakers:

William R. Sweeny, Jr, President, IFES

Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General, ACEEEO - International standards in legal remedies and voters’ complaints

Elena Markova, Vice-Chairman, CEC of Bulgaria– Legal principles on the legal remedies

Irena Hadziabdic, Member, CEC of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Duties of stakeholders of the electoral process

EVERYONE COUNTS, INC

Kazimierz W. Czaplicki, Secretary, National Electoral Office of Poland– Role of Supreme Courts in electoral processes

15.00 - 15.30 Coffee break

15.30 – 17.00 Plenary session III. Judicial protection of electoral rights (Ani room)

Chair:Branko Petric, President, CEC of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Speakers:

Pierre Garrone, Venice Commission, Council of Europe

Full contribution of Mr. Garrone, please click here

Sead Alihodzic, International IDEA - At the Crossroads: Choosing the Path of Electoral Justice as an Alternative to Violence

Zenonas Vaigauskas,Chairman, Central Election Commission of Lithuania - Pioneering role of parliamentary parties

INDRA SYSTEMAS SA

Stanislav V. Vavilov, Vice-president, CEC of Russian Federation – Legal possibilities to restrain the chauvinism, racism, nationalism and political corruptions arising in electoral processes.

18.30 Departure from the Hotel Lobby

19.00 Group photo in front of the National Assembly Building

19.30 Reception on behalf of the Central Election Commission of Armenia (Restaurant „Harsnaqar”)

2^nd day (Friday, 4 September 2009)

09.00 – 11. 00 Professional Workshops

Workshop A: “Appeals versus the decisions, performance or failures of election commissions”

Chair:Kazimierz W. Czaplicki, Secretary, National Electoral Office of Poland

Moderator: Zsolt Szolnoki, Director of Operations, ACEEEO

Special facilitating: BRIDGE course of “Election disputes and conflict management for EMBs” and facilitators

Workshop B: “Mechanisms for restoration of active electoral rights and judicial protections”

Chair: Zenonas Vaigauskas, Chairman, CEC of Lithuania

Moderator: Manuel Carillo Poblano, Chief of International Relations, Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), Mexico

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 – 13.10 Lunch in honour of the Sociologists

13.10 - 13.50 Plenary session: Workshop summaries & conclusions (A-B)

Chair: Stanislav V. Vavilov, Vice-President, CEC of Russian Federation

Speakers: Moderators of the workshops (A-B)

13.50 – 14.50 Plenary session: International experience of applying sociology in Electoral processes

Chair: Dr. Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General, ACEEEO

Speakers:

András Keil, Research Fellow, Republican Institute, Hungary

Manuel Carillo, Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), Mexico

SCYTL

Aaron Adibekyan, Head of the Centre of Sociological Researches “Sociometr”, Armenia

Gevorg Pogosyan, Chairman, Association of Sociologists of Armenia

14.50 - 15.10 Coffee break

15.10 – 15.50 Plenary session: International experience of applying sociology in Electoral processes

Chair: Dr. Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General of the ACEEEO

Speakers:

Mariam Darchiasvili, lecturer of political science, Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Georgia

SMARTMATIC CORP.

Csaba Tiberiu Kovacs, Secretary General, Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania presents Mr. Mihai Milca’s research

Stanislav V. Vavilov, Vice-President, CEC of Russian Federation (TBC) – Sociological approach of the practice of distant e-voting in the Russian Federation

15.50 – 16.10 Development of the recommendations of the Sociologists

Moderator: András Keil, Research Fellow, Republican Institute, Hungary

Speakers: Lecturers of the plenary sessions of the Sociologists

16:20 Tour to Geghard Monastery and Garni Temple (Group photo in front of Garni Temple)

20. 00 Dinner in honour of the sponsors (Restaurant “Aragast”)

3^rd day (Saturday, 5 September 2009)

8.30 – 9.30 ACEEEO Executive Board meeting

Chair:Garegin Azaryan, President, Central Election Commission of Armenia,President

9.30 – 11.00 Plenary session: Elections in the ACEEEO region I.

Chair: Volodymyr Shapoval, Chairman, Central Election Commission of Ukraine

Ms Arpineh Galfayan, RBI, and Ms Anna Solyom, ACEEEO Secretariat – Joint presentation of ACEEEO and RBI on ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, Regional Centres and BRIDGE

Narratives of ACEEEO member states

Harutyun Shahbazyan, Deputy Head of the Chairman, CEC of Armenia, Local elections, 28 September 2008

Lidia Ermoshina, Chairperson, CEC of the Republic of Belarus – Practical development of the election processes

Zenonas Vaigauskas, Chairman, CEC of Lithuania, Parliamentary elections, 12 October 2008

Csaba Tiberiu Kovacs, Secretary General, Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania, Parliamentary elections, 30 November 2008

11.00 - 11.15 Coffee break

11.15 – 12.30 Plenary session: Elections in the ACEEEO region II.

Chair: Csaba Tiberiu Kovacs, Secretary General, Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania

Narratives of ACEEEO member states

Aleksandar Novakoski, President, CEC of Macedonia, Presidential & Local elections, 22 March 2009

Vedran Hadzovic, Member, CEC of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Local elections, 5 October 2008

Renata Lapti, Vice President, CEC of Moldova, Parliamentary elections, in April and in July 2009

Zdravka Cufar Saric, Vice President, CEC of Croatia, Experience and practice of Local elections, 17 May 2009 ; Summary

Elena Markova, Vice Chairman, CEC of Bulgaria, Parliamentary elections, June in English in Russian

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch on behalf of the CEC of Armenia (Restaurant of Ani Plaza Hotel)

13.30 – 15.20 ACEEEO General Assembly Meeting

Chair: Garegin Azaryan, President of the Central Election Commission of Armenia,President of the ACEEEO

Main subjects:

1. Recommendations of the 18^th ACEEEO Conference

o Zsolt Szolnoki, ACEEEO - Recommendations of the 18^th ACEEEO Conference in English in Russian

o András Keil, Republican Institute - Recommendations of the Sociologistsin Englishin Russian

2. Current projects

o Attila Kaszás, ACEEEO, presentation of the ‘Developing accurate voters’ list in transitional democracies’ project’s overview

o European Parliamentary Elections, ACE Project, IFE-ACEEEO collaboration, Afghan-ICDT Project, ACEEEO journal

3. Report on activities of 2008-2009

o Report of the Secretary General

o Financial report, Máté Radics, ACEEEO

4. New members’ enrolment and the new Honorary Member

5. Work plan for 2010

6. Decision about the location and theme of the 2010’s conference

7. Election of the new president of the ACEEEO

8. Zsolt Szolnoki: Suggestions for the celebration of the 20^th Anniversary Conference of the ACEEEO in 2011

15.20 – 15.30 Closing remarks

Garegin Azaryan, President, CEC of Armenia, Former President, ACEEEO

Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General, ACEEEO

New President of the ACEEEO

15.30 – 15.50 Coffee Break

16.30 – 17.30 Tour to Echmiadzin, the Centre for the Armenian Apostolic Church,the Residence of Catholicos of All Armenians

18.00 – 20. 00 Visit to Ararat Wine Factory

20.00 Closing dinner on behalf of the ACEEEO, (Restaurant “Bellagio”)

Recommendations

Download the Recommendations of the 18th ACEEEO conference - in English, or in Russian.

Download the Recommendatioons of the Sociologists of the 18th ACEEEO conference - in English, or in Russian.

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18th Annual Conference of the ACEEEO in Yerevan, Armenia