Waging Peace: Guinea

Monitoring Elections

2010 Elections
In May 2010, The Carter Center launched an election observation mission at the invitation of the country's electoral commission and government. The Center deployed a team of 30 observers to monitor the voting and counting for the June 27, 2010, first round election and maintained a small presence in the months that followed. For the Nov. 7 presidential runoff elections the Center again deployed a 30-person short-term observer team across Guinea to monitor voting and counting. The Center's observers remained in their areas of responsibility in the postelection period to observe results transmission and tabulation processes, including the transfer of results protocols to reception commissions and the processing of those polling station results by centralization commissions. General Yakubu Gowon, the former head of state in Nigeria, led the Center's delegation for both the June 27 election and Nov. 7 runoff.

In a preliminary statement released Nov. 9, The Carter Center presented findings regarding the runoff election day and the pre-election environment. The Center congratulated Guineans for the peaceful and orderly conduct of voting and the high level of participation but also recommended that various changes occur in advance of future elections, including to:

• Conduct an inventory of people who held receipts during the first round and subsequently provide for proper registration of those who are indeed eligible voters, including the provision of a biometric voter registration card to all voters;
• Develop a robust and sustainable system for accurately maintaining a comprehensive national voter register;
• Provide additional education to polling station workers on voting and tabulation procedures; and
• Encourage transparency in how courts make decisions related to electoral disputes.

On Dec. 2, 2010, the Center released its final statement that summarized observations during the tabulation and complaints processes to complete the Center's overall assessment of the presidential runoff elections. The Center concluded that the conduct of Guinea's presidential electoral processes was broadly consistent with the country's international and regional obligations for genuine democratic elections.