VoICE. NET Oct-Dec 2017 VoICE International 1 VoICE International EDITORIAL BOARD UMESH SINHA DHIRENDRA OJHA S D SHARMA DR. AARTI AGGARWAL Editor-in-Chief Election Advisor Associate Editor Election Commission of India Election Election Commission of India Commission of India Commission of India PADMA ANGMO ARIN KUMAR SAFAA E. JASIM LYDIA MACHELI Election Fijian Elections Office Independent High Independent Commission of India Electoral Commission Electoral Commission Iraq Lesotho JANE GITONGA Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Kenya NAZMA NIZAM VASU MOHAN ADHY AMAN Election Commission of International Foundation International IDEA Maldives for Electoral Systems 2 VoICE International Oct-Dec 2017 VoICE International EDITORIAL BOARD UMESH SINHA S.D SHARMA DR. AARTI AGGARWAL DHIRENDRA OJHA PADMA ANGMO ZUBNAH KHAN Editor-in-Chief Advisor Associate Editor Member Member Member Election Election Election Election Election Fijian Elections Office Commission of India Commission of India Commission of India Commission ofVoICE India Commission International of India * ADVISORY BOARD SAFAA IBRAHIM JASIM JANE GITONGA LYDIA MACHELI MS. NAZMA NIZAM VASU MOHAN ADHY AMAN Member Member Member Member Member Member IHEC, Iraq IEBC Kenya IEC Lesotho Election Commission of IFES International IDEA Maldives DR. ABDUL KHABIR ASADUZZAMAN ZEHRA TEPIC PHUB DORJI DR. FABIO LIMA ADVISORYMOMAND BOARD Election Central Election Election QUINTAS Independent Election Commission, Commission, Commission of Bhutan Superior Electoral Commission of Afghanistan Bangladesh Bosnia & Herzegovina Court, Brazil * * DR. ABDUL KHABIR BERNADETTE O’MEARA ASADUZZAMAN PHUB DORJI DR. FABIO LIMA MARIYA MUSORLIEVA MOMAND Australian Electoral Election Election QUINTAS CEC Republic IEC Commission MARICommission,YA MUSORLIEVA CommissionDAYANA of LEO BhutanN FRA NCO Superior ElectoralNATIA ZAAL ISHVILI of Bulgaria U TIN TUN MARILYN KATJITUNDU Afghanistan CECBangladesh Republic National Electoral Court, Brazil Central Election Union Election Electoral Commission of Bulgaria Council, Ecuador Commission of Georgia Commission, of Namibia Myanmar * * NATIA ZAALISHVILI DHARMAJAI MULLOO JOSE’ ROBERTO RUIZ U TIN TUN MARILYN KATJITUNDU NAVARAJ DHAKAL Central Election Office of the NNationalAVARAJ ElectoralDHAKAL UnionHE RNElectionANE VI EGAS Electoral CommissionDR NOMSA MAS UKU ElectionJA MES TZUNG-YU LAI KHAMEYEL FENNICHE Election SANTIAGO Electoral Central Election High Independent Commission of Georgia Electoral Commissioner Institute, Mexico Commission, of Namibia Commission of Nepal Commission of Nepal Democratic Republic of Commission of South Commission, Taiwan Election Commission Mauritius MyanmarSao Tome & principe Africa Tunisia BERNADETTE O’MEARA Australian Electoral Commission DR NOMSA MASUKU KHAMEYEL FENNICHE J.A.S.P JAYAS JAYASINGHEINGHE SUMEETASUMEETA BANERJEE BANERJEE DR M P SINGHDR. M P SINGH DR. RAVI GARGESHDR. RAVI GARGESH Electoral High Independent SriSri Lankan Lankan Election Election United United Nation Nations Member Member Member Member Commission of South Election Commission CommissionCommission DevelopmentDevelopment Africa Tunisia ProgrammeProgramme *Photograph not available 2 VoICE International April - June 2017 DHARMAJAI MULLOO JOSE’ ROBERTO RUIZ Office of the National Electoral Electoral Commissioner Institute, Mexico Mauritius Oct-Dec 2017 VoICE International 3 EDITORIAL I take pleasure and pride in presenting our fourth issue of VoICE International that marks the completion of Volume I. VoICE.NET has further grown with joining in of the EMBs of Ecuador, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe and Taiwan as the new members of the VoICE International. That takes our membership to 27 which includes 24 EMBs and 3 Expert International Institutions. I take this opportunity to welcome the new members and hope they will find this knowledge sharing experience enriching. We bring to you the knowledge and experience on ‘Overseas Electors and Service Voters including Uniformed Services Voters’ which includes rich contributions from the EMBs of Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fiji, India, Iraq, Nepal and Sri Lanka besides articles from International IDEA and IFES. In this issue, we also have special articles on different topics from the Chairman of the National Electoral Council of Ecuador on ‘Participation of the Public Force and Integral Security in Electoral Processes: A perspective from Ecuador’ and a new initiative regarding Electoral Education from Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho. Our Senior Fellow, Mr. S D Sharma has also contributed a featured article on this subject which is a fairly comprehensive compilation of information on this subject from few other countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Articles contributed by all makes this Issue truly global, representing all the continents and will surely help in holistic comprehension of the subject. The additional informative segments of this magazine have been further enriched to provide larger set of information and attraction to the readership. 4 VoICE International Oct-Dec 2017 Overseas Electors and Service Voters including Uniformed Services Voters are distinct category of voters whose registration as electors and participation in the elections - both remain a challenge for most of the countries. To bridge the deficit both in registration and participation, there is a need to have greater support of legal instruments, enabling technology as also efficient and effective methods of Voter education. The support and cooperation from the countries of residence is also equally important. The issues and challenges of voting from out of the country are complex and their dimensions are also different for different countries. Learning from each other can definitely help in resolving the issues to a great extent. I dedicate this issue of VoICE International to ‘Overseas Electors and Service Voters’ and hope that information provided in this issue from across the globe will be useful for the all the EMBs and other important stakeholders. I am also very happy to announce that the topic for the next issue will be ‘Using Digital Technology and Social Media for Voter Education’.I hope this topic will arouse a lot of interest in sharing the best practices by the participating EMBs and International Organizations. I am also sure that the members will eagerly wait for the next issue to be published in the first quarter of the New Year 2018. I take this opportunity to welcome Mr. Sunil Arora, Election Commissioner as a new member in the Election Commission of India. We look forward to his guidance and support for VoICE.NET and VoICE International. On the eve of the New Year, 2018, I wish a very happy new year to all the members of the board and readers of this magazine. Umesh Sinha Executive Secretary, VoICE.NET and Editor-in-Chief, VoICE International Oct-Dec 2017 VoICE International 5 IN THIS ISSUE Oct - Dec 2017 | Volume 1 No. 4 CONTENTS Featured Articles 11 BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA Educational and Motivational Campaign – Voters outside Bosnia and Herzegovina 14 BRAZIL Political Participation and Extraterritoriality 21 INDIA Every Indian Vote Counts: The Online Survey for the Overseas Indians 25 IRAQ Out of Country Voting (OCV) 27 NEPAL Enabling Overseas Electors and Service Voters including Uniformed Services Voters 16 ECUADOR 29 SRI LANKA Participation of the Public Force and Some Perspectives On Out of Country Voting for Integral Security in Electoral Processes Sri Lankans 19 FIJI 31 INTERNATIONAL IDEA Enabling Overseas Voters’ Registration Out of Country Voting in a Globalized World: and Awareness What are the Implications? VoICE Box 35 IFES Out-of-Country Voting – A brief Overview 08 Message for EMBs 38 Insights Perspectives 74 Announcements 88 Ballot Stories 50 Special Initiatives 93 Vignettes 82 Publications 63 Events 96 Glossary & Quiz All rights reserved. The material (i.e writing, artwork and/or photos) featured in this publication may be used or reproduced with an acknowledgement to the author, their institution, and VoICE International at the Election Commission of India. However, any material downloaded or copied from VoICE International should be an exact reproduction and without any alteration whatsoever. 6 VoICE International Oct-Dec 2017 MESSAGE DIRECCION NACIONAL DE RELACIONES INTERNACIONALES, COOPERACION Y OBSERVACION ELECTORAL Ofieio Nro. CNE-DNRICOE-2017-0050-Of Quito, 30 de octubre de 2017 Asunto : Acceptance of Membership to VoICE.NET Shri A.K. Joti, Chief Election Commissioner ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA En su Despacho Dear Sh. Joti Please receive a warm greeting from the National Electoral Council of Ecucador (CNE), and its Chairman, Dr. Juan Pablo Pozo Bahamode. Hereby, I refer to the Letter No.491/ECI/DO/SVEEP-IIVoice.net/2016/Vol-II, by which the Election Commission of India issue formal invitation to the National Electoral Council to be part of the global initiative VoICE.NET and to contribute to the publication VoICE International. On behalf of Dr. Juan Pablo Pozo, it is my pleasure to announce the acceptance of the National Electoral Council to become a member of such an important knowledge network. Likewise, the would like to nominate Ms. Dayana Leon Franco, Advisor, as the Member Secretary of our institution. I look forward to working together for the continuous improvement of our electoral practices. Sincerely, Atentamente, Sr. Marin Gabriela Cordero Correa DIRECTORA NACIONAL DE RELACIONES