Political climate didn’t allow ‘free and fair vote,’ warns report

A free and fair voting process in the constitutional referendum was “impaired” by the political context leading up to the polls, according to a report issued by an international referendum observation mission on Thursday.

Transparency International (TI) was authorized by the High Elections Commission to monitoring the voting process on Tuesday and Wednesday. The official statement released on Thursday detailed recommendations for government officials.

The electoral process was marred by the fact that citizens who rejected the draft constitution were unable to advocate for their ideas, TI said.

The government took several measures against political dissidents, often relying on the contentious Protest Law to silence their voices, the report said.

"Of further concern in the period prior to the referendum are in particular violent attacks by security forces against protesters, violent attacks on security forces that appear politically motivated, the detention of scores of persons affiliated with the  Muslim Brotherhood, the politically motivated  prosecution of these persons as well as non-Muslim Brotherhood critics of the government, and the  new law on assembly restricting this right," TI warned.

"The administration of the referendum appears to have excluded domestic groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood from monitoring the freedom and fairness of the referendum, while approving other groups that have voiced support for military’s ouster of President [Mohamed] Morsi," it added.

There were also technical difficulties inside polling stations, TI said.

The group criticized the government’s biased campaigns for a “yes” vote, pointing out that the state took excessive legal action against those who campaigned against the constitution.

Seven members of the Strong Egypt Party were arrested last week and now face criminal charges for disseminating flyers urging a “no” vote.

"The roles and mandate of the government need better definitions and limitations under the law in order to create a level playing field and secure impartiality to enable a free and fairly contested voting process. The [High Elections Commission] should take up cases in which government officials used their position and public to campaign for support of the constitutional amendments," TI recommended.

The international organization also underscored the bias of both state-owned and privately owned media channels, which the statement accused of presenting one-sided reporting that slanted towards approving the constitution. The group urged both media outlets and the government to issue regulations that would ensure impartial media coverage of the electoral process.

TI also condemned the politically motivated violence that “limited and conditioned citizen’s political and electoral participation.”