Waging Peace: Tunisia

Monitoring Elections

In March 2011, Carter Center Democracy Program staff visited Tunis to learn about the current political and electoral dynamics. Based on its assessment and the welcome of a broad range of Tunisian stakeholders, the Center decided that international observation of the electoral developments in Tunisia could play an important role in increasing the transparency of the electoral process and supporting a credible genuine process.

The Carter Center launched its Tunisia election monitoring mission in July 2011 with the opening of a field office in Tunis to monitor electoral and political developments. The Carter Center received a letter of invitation from the High Independent Authority for the Elections (ISIE) to observe the electoral process in mid-July, followed by official accreditation on Aug. 4. Ten long-term election observers were deployed in late July to observe the voter registration process.

On Oct. 23, nearly 70 Carter Center observers visited 272 polling stations in all governorates as part of a delegation led by former President of Mauritius Cassam Uteem and CEO and President of The Carter Center Dr. John Hardman. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter accompanied the leadership delegation.

Carter Center observers reported that the voting process was marked by peaceful and enthusiastic participation, generally transparent procedures, and popular confidence about Tunisia's democratic transition. Tunisian voters waited patiently in very long lines, determined to take part in the historic first election of the Arab Spring movements of 2011. The process was hindered by insufficient information about the allocation of voters to polling stations as well as a lack of detailed procedures and training for key parts of the process, including vote counting, tabulation, and election dispute resolution.

The Center remained in Tunisia to observe the announcement of final results for the election of the National Constituent Assembly and the formation of the interim government. Postelection, The Carter Center noted that several key areas related to the tabulation of results and appeals procedures did not receive sufficient attention of the ISIE. The ISIE published results at the district level by the number of seats won by parties and independent lists, but several weeks after the elections, detailed preliminary results separated at the polling-station level were not published, as is widely recognized as a best practice to increase transparency.

The objectives of the Center's observation mission in Tunisia were to provide an impartial assessment of the overall quality of the electoral process, promote an inclusive process for all Tunisians, and demonstrate international support for this ambitious democratic transition. The electoral process was assessed against the Tunisian legal framework as well as Tunisia's international obligations for genuine democratic elections.

Following its observation of the Constituent Assembly elections, The Carter Center remained in Tunisia to follow the constitutional drafting process and developments related to the establishment of institutional and legal frameworks for subsequent elections. The Carter Center is assessing these processes against Tunisia's national laws and international treaty obligations to which the country has obligated itself, including, among others, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.