Tunisia: Constituent Assembly powers debated | Magharebia.com

Just weeks before Tunisians head to the polls in historic Constituent Assembly elections, politicians are debating what role the legislative body will play in the future of the country.

Parties, independents and intellectuals are divided into two groups. The first group supports a proposal to restrict the task of the Constituent Assembly to creating a new constitution through a referendum on the same day as the October 23rd poll. The other faction, meanwhile, has called for making the assembly a sovereign entity with full powers.

Mohsen Marzouk, Secretary-General of the Arab Organisation for Democracy who came up with the idea of referendum, believes that the role of the Constituent Assembly must be restricted to drafting the constitution, and that the government should proceed with its work until legislative and presidential elections are held within one year. Marzouk expressed fear that members of the Constituent Assembly might not agree on the formation of a new government.

Liberia: Liberian voters reject all 4 proposed constitutional changes; presidential poll set for Oct. | The Washington Post

Liberia’s National Elections Commission says voters rejected all four proposed changes to the constitution in a recent referendum in the West African nation.

Commission co-chairwoman Elizabeth Nelson said Wednesday that none of the four propositions got the two-thirds majority needed to pass. The commission says 600,000 people voted. The main opposition party boycotted last week’s poll.

Liberia: Voters say ‘no’ to constitutional changes | AFP

Liberian voters have rejected a raft of highly contested constitutional changes at a referendum, the electoral commission announced Wednesday. The stickiest proposed change was to shorten from 10 to five consecutive years the amount of time that presidential and vice-presidential candidates would be required to have lived in Liberia.

The existing clause was suspended in 2005 elections as most candidates had just recently returned from post-war exile. While more of those who turned out to vote in the referendum on August 23 backed the move than opposed it, by 292,318 votes to 246,473, the measure was nonetheless defeated as the ‘yes’ vote fell short of the necessary threshold of two-thirds of votes cast.

Ohio: Democrats push referendum to end Republican voter law | Politics Extra

Several Democratic candidates and officeholders gathered in front of the Hamilton County Board of Election Tuesday morning to decry House Bill 194, a Republican bill reforming Ohio election law that Democrats say is nothing more  than “voter supression.”

The Democrats said they are part of a statewide push to gather about 232,000 valid voter signatures to place a referendum on the Nov. 2012 ballot. If they succeed by Sept. 29, the law – scheduled to go into effect Sept. 30 – would be put on hold for this election and next year’s presidential election, when Ohio voters would decide whether or not they want to keep the law, which significantly shortens the period of early voting and tells inside poll workers that they are not required to direct voters to the right tables in multi-recinct polling places, among other things.

Liberia: Referendum marred by ballot error | AP

Liberia’s first constitutional referendum in 25 years was marred by error on Tuesday after the National Election Commission said it had distributed defective ballot papers. Liberians are casting their votes on four amendments to the constitution, including one which asks citizens to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court judges. The referendum is seen as a test of the country’s democracy and its voting mechanism ahead of the presidential vote later this year.

One of the ballots is supposed to ask voters to choose 70 or 75 years as the retirement age, but the ballot with the error lists 75 or 75, meaning that anyone voting on the proposition will have to choose the older retirement age, said Amos Koukou, deputy coordinator of the referendum organizing team. Koukou said the error occurred because the voting material was printed in Denmark and arrived with the mistake already printed on the ballot paper.

Liberia: Officials play down ballot error | AFP

Liberia’s election commission played down a ballot paper error as votes were being counted Wednesday, a day after a constitutional referendum which was criticised by opposition parties.

The referendum, seen as a test for the commission (NEC) just weeks before the nation’s second post-war presidential elections, underlined teething problems after a misprint on ballot papers that confused some voters. While voting went off peacefully, the referendum was also marred by concerns over poor voter turnout and a a boycott by some opposition leaders.

“The NEC assures the voting populace that the error will in no way affect the determination of the decision of the voters to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Neither will it impact the results of the referendum,” chairman James Fromayan said at a press conference late Tuesday night.

Liberia: Referendum ballot causes confusion | AFP

Liberia’s electoral commission admitted Tuesday to an error on the ballot papers for a constitutional referendum, in a section where voters have to decide on the retirement age of the chief justice.

Among four laws the referendum asks voters to decide on Tuesday, is whether to change the retirement age from 70 to 75 for the chief justice and all Supreme Court judges. However the ballot paper has the ‘yes’ option at 75, as well as the ‘no’ option.

“We have noticed a very serious error while casting our vote, it is about the age of the chief justice,” said 28-year old university student Bille Koffe. “Instead of two propositions, 70 and 75, we saw only 75 and 75. We find it difficult to choose so I simply put there, ‘error’, because when I asked the administrator, he answered me saying it was an error noticed a week ago but it was too late to make a change.”