Duration: 2016-2019

Implementing Partner: Public Union “Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society”

Key Partners: Central Electoral Commission, State Registration Service, Government Ministries and Agencies, Members of Parliament, NGO “CIIP”, civil society, media.

Activity Locations: Kyrgyz Republic

The project contributed to increased transparency of 2016 referendum/local council elections and 2017 presidential elections, enhanced access to information for the voters and more equal participation of all election stakeholders. It also helped to strengthen election dispute resolution, increase accountability of elected officials and improve policy making through comprehensive monitoring of the Kyrgyz Parliament.

MAJOR FOCUS AREAS

• Raising public awareness of issues surrounding the local elections and presidential election voting procedures;
• Reporting of electoral disputes and violations identified by short-term and long-term observers;
• Collecting and processing information and data from observers and producing a final report on the electoral process, offering independent conclusions on electoral results;
• Increasing knowledge and awareness of parliamentary activities. Daily monitoring by observers deployed in Parliament of the sessions of the two committees (Committee on Constitutional Legislation and Judicial Issues; Committee on Social Affairs) and plenary sessions.
• Facilitate organizing demand driven public hearings roundtables in Bishkek and in the regions where constituents can raise region specific issues and priorities with the MPs.  
• Measuring public perception of major social issues, draft laws, and citizen assessment of Parliament through telephone polling.

EXPECTED RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• Monitoring 2016 local elections/ referendum and 2017 presidential election using internationally recognized best practices to increase transparency of electoral process and furnish citizens with independent authoritative and comprehensive findings that increased confidence in election results.
• National observation campaign with dozens of long term and over a thousand short-term observers to monitor the electoral and campaign processes. On the Election Day, the campaign covered over 500 polling stations throughout the country to gather quantitative and qualitative data and conduct Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) for independently tabulating results of the elections.
• Nationwide voter education campaign, raising public awareness of the quality of the electoral process and encouraging broad citizen participation.
• As part of the project, the Coalition monitored Parliamentary plenary sessions and meetings of two committees, law drafting and compliance with legal procedures. Information on Parliament is shared with the public to increase institutional awareness and confidence, through publications and social media content (Facebook live videos, Twitter, interviews of MPs).
• Raised awareness of parliamentary democracy through roundtables in Bishkek and in the regions, and parliamentary hearings with MPs. Publication of a final yearly report on Parliament.
• The Coalition conducted eight telephone opinion polls per year on key draft laws and major social issues, measuring the state of public opinion on a nation-wide scale. From 2016 to 2018, 14 opinion polls where administered in the framework of the program.