ETHIOPIA FIAL REPORT HOUSE OF PEOPLE'S REPRESETATIVES AD STATE COUCIL ELECTIOS MAY 2010 EUROPEA UIO ELECTIO OBSERVATIO MISSIO This report was produced by the European Union Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia 2010 and presents the mission’s findings on the 23 May 2010 elections to the House of People's Representatives and State Councils. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the European Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the European Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof. This report is available in English and Amharic, only the English version is official TABLE OF COTETS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................1 II. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................4 III. POLITICAL BACKGROUND.......................................................................................5 A. Political Context .......................................................................................................................................................5 B. Main Political Actors ..............................................................................................................................................5 IV. LEGAL & ELECTORAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................7 A. Legal Framework ....................................................................................................................................................7 B. Universal and Regional Commitments ............................................................................................................8 C. Electoral Legislation ..............................................................................................................................................8 D. The Electoral System ..............................................................................................................................................9 E. Delimitation of Constituency Boundaries .......................................................................................................9 F. “Special” Minority Constituencies ......................................................................................................................9 V. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION....................................................................................10 A. Structure and Composition of the Election Administration ..................................................................10 B. The Administration of the Elections ..............................................................................................................11 C. Polling Stations .....................................................................................................................................................11 D. Public Observers ....................................................................................................................................................11 E. Voter Education ....................................................................................................................................................12 VI. VOTER REGISTRATION .........................................................................................12 A. The Right to Vote ..................................................................................................................................................12 B. Voter Registration................................................................................................................................................13 VII. REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES AND POLITICAL PARTIES.....................................14 A. Registration of Political Parties ......................................................................................................................14 B. Registration of Candidates ................................................................................................................................14 VIII. ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND PRE-ELECTION ENVIRONMENT ...................................15 A. Background to the Election Campaign .........................................................................................................15 B. Overview of the Election Campaign ...............................................................................................................16 C. Candidate Withdrawal .......................................................................................................................................17 D. Use of State Resources ........................................................................................................................................17 E. Campaign Finance ...............................................................................................................................................18 IX. MEDIA AND ELECTIONS........................................................................................18 A. Media Environment .............................................................................................................................................18 B. Legal Framework for the Media and Elections ..........................................................................................19 C. Monitoring of Media Coverage of the Elections ........................................................................................20 X. HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION.....................................................21 A. Human Rights Situation.....................................................................................................................................21 B. Women’s Participation .......................................................................................................................................23 XI. PARTICIPATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND DOMESTIC ELECTION OBSERVATION ........23 XII. INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATION...........................................................24 XIII. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS.................................................................................24 A. The Judiciary ..........................................................................................................................................................25 B. The NEBE and the Grievance Hearing Committees .................................................................................26 C. The Joint Councils for Political Parties .........................................................................................................27 D. Electoral Offences .................................................................................................................................................27 XIV. ELECTION DAY .....................................................................................................28 A. Opening ....................................................................................................................................................................28 B. Polling .......................................................................................................................................................................29 C. Closing and Counting ..........................................................................................................................................29 XV. RESULTS AND POST-ELECTION ENVIRONMENT.....................................................29 A. Announcement of Provisional Results ...........................................................................................................29 B. Consolidation of Results at the Constituency Electoral Offices ............................................................30 C. Processing of Results at the NEBE Headquarters .....................................................................................30 D. Post-election Environment ................................................................................................................................31 E. Electoral Petitions ................................................................................................................................................32 F. Publication of Final Results ..............................................................................................................................32 G. Political Overview of the Election Results ...................................................................................................33 XVI. RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................................................................................34 European Union Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia 2010 Page 1 of 38 Final Report on the House of People’s Representatives and State Council Elections I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ethiopia held its fourth elections to the House of People's Representatives (HPR) and State Councils on 23 May 2010. The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) was present in Ethiopia from 14 April to 21 June 2010, following invitations from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE). The EU EOM was led by Mr. Thijs Berman, Member of the European Parliament. The Mission