A delegation from the Central Elections Commission, headed by the Deputy CEO, Mr. Ashraf Shuaibi, has concluded a visit to Portugal to observe the Portuguese Legislative Elections held on 27 September 2009.
The CEC delegation served as electoral observers on election day, witnessing polling and counting. They also met with the Chairman of the Portuguese Electoral Commission, members of the PEC staff, and representatives of the various political parties running in the elections.
Mr. Shuaibi noted some distinct differences between how the PCE oversees elections and how they are administered by the CEC. Perhaps the most applicable to the current situation in Palestine is the use of video-training for polling staff. Mr. Shuaibi noted, “If we could develop this, we’d no longer have to send our training staff to ever region and do in-person training for all 20,000 polling staff. This could save a lot of resources and time.” Mr. Shuaibi said that the trip was an all-around success and that he and the other members of the delegation learned many useful things.