Supporting minority elections in Croatia
Getting out the minority vote
Each of the minority councils that were elected on 18 May 2003 will be able to make proposals to local government bodies on how to improve the situation of minorities and propose candidates for local offices. Governments at the local and regional levels will be obliged to consult these councils with regard to acts affecting the rights of minorities.
In response to various concerns expressed by minority representatives and non-governmental organizations in Croatia, namely in the lack of information and support shown by the country's government, the OSCE Mission to Croatia has agreed to give a grant of more than 15,000 euros to GONG, Croatia's leading election support NGO.
Election support through NGOs
GONG's project idea was to run a public information campaign targeting ethnic minority voters. The campaign included informing voters through various means - television spots, Citizens' Hour on radio, the Internet, a public hotline, brochures, and the holding of press conferences. In addition, GONG also had its mobile monitoring units out in force on election day.
"Considering the tight election deadlines the minority communities have had to work with, we saw the greatest need in informing the public on the purpose of the elections", said Aleksandra Kuratko, director of GONG. "We focused on the way they were to be held, and on general information for election day such as the location of polling stations. GONG has shown to be successful in past state-level elections in providing voter information, and for this reason we saw our role in these very important elections for the minority communities."
Additional elections required
In the end, the 18 May elections took place in an open, transparent and well-organized fashion, and GONG monitored about half of the 872 polling stations. In their final report, the NGO pointed out a number of shortcomings. Despite the campaign, voters had not been sufficiently informed about the scope and importance of the elections, or how they would be conducted. Perhaps the biggest concern was that despite all efforts, the turnout had still been low.
As elections were held for fewer than half of the 470 councils and 140 representatives minority groups were entitled to (221 councils and 42 representatives respectively), it was concluded that additional elections needed to be held.
The Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Peter Semneby, called on the Croatian Government to organize additional elections in areas where elections were not held. He also urged the Government to assist minority associations in ensuring a higher turnout next time, by giving a longer lead time in which the elections could be prepared and by supporting the information and campaign efforts of minority associations.
Each of the minority councils that were elected on 18 May 2003 will be able to make proposals to local government bodies on how to improve the situation of minorities and propose candidates for local offices. Governments at the local and regional levels will be obliged to consult these councils with regard to acts affecting the rights of minorities.
In response to various concerns expressed by minority representatives and non-governmental organizations in Croatia, namely in the lack of information and support shown by the country's government, the OSCE Mission to Croatia has agreed to give a grant of more than 15,000 euros to GONG, Croatia's leading election support NGO.
Election support through NGOs
GONG's project idea was to run a public information campaign targeting ethnic minority voters. The campaign included informing voters through various means - television spots, Citizens' Hour on radio, the Internet, a public hotline, brochures, and the holding of press conferences. In addition, GONG also had its mobile monitoring units out in force on election day.
"Considering the tight election deadlines the minority communities have had to work with, we saw the greatest need in informing the public on the purpose of the elections", said Aleksandra Kuratko, director of GONG. "We focused on the way they were to be held, and on general information for election day such as the location of polling stations. GONG has shown to be successful in past state-level elections in providing voter information, and for this reason we saw our role in these very important elections for the minority communities."
Additional elections required
In the end, the 18 May elections took place in an open, transparent and well-organized fashion, and GONG monitored about half of the 872 polling stations. In their final report, the NGO pointed out a number of shortcomings. Despite the campaign, voters had not been sufficiently informed about the scope and importance of the elections, or how they would be conducted. Perhaps the biggest concern was that despite all efforts, the turnout had still been low.
As elections were held for fewer than half of the 470 councils and 140 representatives minority groups were entitled to (221 councils and 42 representatives respectively), it was concluded that additional elections needed to be held.
The Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Peter Semneby, called on the Croatian Government to organize additional elections in areas where elections were not held. He also urged the Government to assist minority associations in ensuring a higher turnout next time, by giving a longer lead time in which the elections could be prepared and by supporting the information and campaign efforts of minority associations.