Clarification Statement

As the legal and technical preparations for the upcoming local elections assigned on 20 October 2012 have come to an end, the CEC has received lately a number of requests related to the merging of electoral districts and witnessed appeals in newspapers calling for specific modifications in the elections law.

In this context, the CEC would like to clarify that one of the international standards for fair elections is withholding from making any modifications to the boundaries of localities or the nature of local councils after a decision to hold elections is made. This standard applies on both the upcoming local elections and complementary elections scheduled on 24 November 2012 as a single electoral process.

The CEC calls upon all political parties, electoral blocs, members of various communities and concerned bodies to support CEC’s work in safeguarding integrity which is the foundation of any electoral process.