Algeria launches campaign to reduce electoral abstention

2007-08-08

Algerian authorities say faulty electoral lists may explain the low turnout for the May 17th elections. Some parties and many citizens say the explanation is an attempt by the government to lay blame on the people, rather than acknowledge that they have lost the public's confidence.

By Said Jameh for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/08/2007

[Said Jameh] Zerhouni said the low turnout may be due to citizens moving house and failing to register in their new districts.

Algeria's Interior Ministry began a campaign last month to purge electoral lists of what it calls "falsely registered voters" in order to identify a more accurate number of voters and to raise turnout in the next elections.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said that since the end of July, his agencies have sent 4 million letters to those who did not participate in the May 17th legislative elections. The letter includes a form consisting of a single question: "Do you or do you not still live at your original address?" Recipients were directed to return the completed form to the Interior Ministry.

In the event a letter is not returned, the voter will be considered as no longer residing at that address. Should this happen, his or her name will be automatically deleted from the electoral lists of that constituency.

Zerhouni called on citizens to show a "spirit of responsibility and to return the letter to the Interior Ministry's agencies."

He explained this procedure represents an effort by the government to clear electoral lists of the voters who changed their addresses and didn't register their names in their new municipalities during the last six years, and who didn't delete their names from their old places of residence.

In a meeting with Algerian press, Zerhouni said the Ministry was motivated to take action to find the causes of high electoral abstention in the previous election. "The so-called false registration in electoral lists might have been the cause of low turnout in the last legislative elections," he added.

Turnout in the May 17th elections was under 35% – the lowest in the country's history since its independence in 1962.

Zerhouni said that between 2000 and 2006, more than 700,000 families moved to new regions within Algeria. Most are still registered in their old residences, and the impracticality of returning to their former homes to vote makes them less likely to cast their ballots.

The Interior Ministry's procedure has received strong opposition from some groups. The opposition party Front of Socialist Forces (FFS), led by Houcine Ait Ahmed, was quick to condemn the measure. A party statement signed by Secretary Karim Tabou said, "This procedure, which the interior minister claims is for the purpose of cleansing electoral lists, is in fact only intended for pressure and intimidation."

The FFS condemned the "irresponsible behaviours" because they "deny the citizen his or her right to abstain from voting in elections." The party said "it was an attempt by the authorities to forge ahead and avoid handling the clear message sent by the people in the legislative elections of May 17th."

The Ennahda Movement, led by Fateh Rebai, issued a statement in which it expressed what it sees as dangers associated with the Interior Ministry's decision. "At a time when the Algerian people waited for a correct evaluation by the authorities of the large electoral abstention in the May elections, we were surprised by the administration's decision to question the citizens about the reason for such abstention," the statement noted. The party warned that such a procedure will have a negative effect on authorities and political parties alike and that it will further complicate the election process and erode its value.

One citizen, Djamal ben Foughal, who didn't vote in the last elections, told Magharebia the letters will contribute to further intimidation of the voters. He called the move a "police measure" that will not solve the problem of abstention.

Abdelghani, a nurse at a public hospital, said that the Interior Ministry's procedure wouldn't fix the problem. "I, for example, didn't vote in the last elections because I didn't have confidence in the candidates. The authorities certainly know that well. Therefore, I think the real reasons, which everyone knows, must be addressed."