www.electionin.org

Organisation : Office of the Electoral Commissioner Seychelles
Facility : Presidential Election
Country : Seychelles

Notification : https://www.electionin.org/uploads/1198-Notice_Presidential_Election_2015.pdf
Home page : http://www.ecs.sc/

Presidential Election 2015 :

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 13 of the Elections Act, 1995, the Electoral Commission hereby appoints the dates specified below as the dates of the Presidential Election in the electoral areas specified.

3rd and 4th December, 2015 : In respect of voters of all electoral areas who are on the Outer Islands.

3rd and 5th December, 2015 : All electoral areas on Mahe and Praslin other than in respect of voters who are on the Outer Islands.

3rd, 4th and 5th December, 2015 Inner Islands : The Electoral Commission of Seychelles calls upon all eligible voters to assume their right and responsibility to vote in the Presidential Election 2015.

Elections in the Seychelles :

** The Holding of Presidential and National Assembly Elections
** The President is elected for a five-year term and cannot hold office for more than three terms. Members of the National Assembly are also elected for a five-year term although the Constitution provides that National Assembly elections shall be held during the period starting at the beginning -of the 57th month and ending at the end of the 59th month of a session. According to the Elections -Act, the Electoral Commissioner announces, by notice in the Gazette, the date or dates on which the presidential or a National Assembly election should be held.

The Electoral Commissione :

** Responsibility for the conduct and supervision of the registration of voters and of elections rests with the Electoral Commissioner, who is appointed by the President, from candidates proposed by a three¬ member Constitutional Appointments Authority for a term of office of not more than seven years.
** The Constitution provides for the President of the Republic and the Leader of the Opposition to each appoint one member to the Constitutional Appointments Authority and these persons in turn, by agreement, appoint a third member to serve as Chairperson.
** Where the two cannot agree, they must submit a list of not less than two and not more than three candidates to the President who then makes a final decision.
** The present members of the body were appointed by the Constitutional Commission which drafted the Constitution and on which all the main political parties at the time were represented.

The Electoral Commissioner is also responsible :
** as the Registrar of political parties.
** as the Electoral Boundaries Commissioner (under continuous review and reports thereon to the National Assembly and the President).

** The Constitution provides for the complete independence of the Electoral Commissioner and a number of provisions are laid down to guarantee this.
** The Electoral Commissioner’s allowances and salary are paid from the Consolidated Fund and cannot be altered to his or her disadvantage after appointment.
** He or she cannot be removed from office during their term unless for inability to perform the functions of the office, whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or from any other cause, or for misbehavior.
** Polling station staff (Electoral Officers, Assistant Electoral Officers and a number of assistants) are selected from a list drawn up by the Electoral Commissioner and approved by all the contesting parties.

The Funding of Political Parties :

** Under the Political Parties (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment) Act 1996, the registered political parties are entitled to monies from a fund (the Political Parties Financial Support Fund) appropriated by an Act of the National Assembly.
** The Registrar of Political Parties determines the total amount of financial assistance to be paid out of the fund on or before 30 January of each year.
** Each registered political party which nominated candidates for the immediately preceding general election to the National Assembly is entitled to receive out of the total funds such sum as is equal to the percentage of valid votes cast in favour of the candidates nominated by that party.
** For 1997, a total of SR7.5 million was appropriated for assistance to political parties.
** By the year 2000, SR 0.5million was approved to share amongst political parties, all paid monthly by the Electoral Commissioner

Campaigning :

There is no limit in law to either a party’s or an individual candidate’s campaign expenditure, but that Clause 94 of the Election Act 1995 stipulates that within 60 days after the results elections are declared, a candidate, party or party agent has to submit to the Electoral Commissioner a statement of funds received and expenditure incurred ( NOT INDICATING THE SOURCE OF FUNDING OR TO WHOM PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO).

Franchise System :

** A direct franchise system was used for the 25 seats to the National Assembly (one per electoral district) on the basis of the first-past-the-post system.
** In addition, up to 10 seats would be filled by proportional representation, with the parties nominating a proportionally elected member for each 10 per cent of votes polled.
** A constitutional amendment (Fourth Amendment Act) in 1996 had changed the necessary minimum share of the popular vote required for a party to gain a seat under the proportional representation allocation from 8 per cent to 10 per cent.
** The same constitutional amendment reduced the number of proportional seats from 11 to a maximum of 10.
** The presidential election was by direct popular ballot.
** The voting age for both the presidential and the National Assembly elections is 18.
** There is no provision in the Constitution and the electoral law for postal or proxy voting nor for voting by diplomats serving abroad.

The Electoral Register :

** The Electoral Register is updated at the beginning of each year.
** All political parties subsequently expressed satisfaction with the Electoral Register.

Identity Cards and Ballot Papers :
** A National Identity Card or passport, both of which show a voter’s National Identity Number, must be presented in order to vote.
** Voters whose names were on the register but who could not produce either of these documents, would be permitted to vote if their identity was not questioned by the electoral officials, security personnel as well as all the candidates/party agents present.
** Following strong protests from the opposition parties against the printing of ballot papers at a local printing press belonging to a candidate member, the ballot papers for the elections were printed in Singapore.
** There were separate ballot papers for the presidential and National Assembly elections.