Madagascar: Independent National Electoral Commission

Updated July 2010

The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI, Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante) was established by Ordonnance no 2010-003 du 17 mars 2010 portant loi organique relative au Code électoral, Articles 127-129. The CENI is charged with the organisation and supervision of elections and referenda as well as the compilation and publication of provisional results (Ordonnance no 2010-003, Article 127). The CENI is required to ensure the credibility of elections and is granted administrative and financial autonomy to enable it to do so (Ordonnance no 2010-003, Article 127). The establishment of CENI in March 2010 fundamentally reorganised electoral management, for it united in one body functions that had until then been divided between two. Responsibility for the conduct of electoral operations was removed from the Ministry of the Interior and its role in elections considerably reduced on the one hand and, on the other, the National Electoral Council (CNE, Conseil National Electoral) which had supervised electoral operations was abolished and its duties transferred to the CENI (see Electoral management until 2010 for details).

The High Constitutional Court (HCC, Haute Cour Constitutionnelle) continued to play its role of vetting and publishing National Assembly and presidential candidates, processing electoral complaints for parliamentary and presidential elections and referenda and verifying and announcing the results of these polls (Ordonnance no 2010-003, Articles 124, 127-129; Loi organique no 2002-004, 48-51, 72-76; EISA 2006, 7; European Parliament 2003, 5).

Article 128 of Ordonnance no 2010-003 stipulated that the CENI should have a majority of members drawn from civil society formations but Article 129 left the details of its composition, organisation, functioning and related matters to a decree to be issued by the Council of Ministers, specifying only that it has the power to requisition the services of the public administration and the intervention of the police force. Until the structures of the CENI were properly established the Ministry of the Interior retained responsibility for electoral preparations and operations (Ordonnance no 2010-003, Article 157). The provisions of Article 129 were met when the Council of Ministered issued Décret no 2010-120 fixant l'organisation, le fonctionnement et les attributions de la Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendant.

Composition

Décret no 2010-120 specifies that the CENI be composed of Malagasy citizens, at least thirty five years of age, who are in full possession of their civil and political rights and who have not been criminally convicted (Article 4). Moreover, they must be competent, of great integrity, high morals and impartial. The CENI is comprised of 19 Commissioners who are nominated by a range of organisations (Décret no 2010-120, Articles 5, 6):

• Ten members, who solemnly affirm that they are not members of a political organisation, to be drawn from civil society bodies: Of these, three to come from organisations involved in election observation, one from an organisation engaged in civic education, one from a civil rights organisation, one from the Association of Civil Servants, one from the Journalists' Association, one from the Advocates' Association, one a jurist nominated by the Deans of the university law faculties and one from the Association of Magistrates.
• Two members are to be seconded by government: One to represent the Ministry of the Interior and another from the Ministry of Decentralization.
• Seven members, who do not have voting rights, to represent the political parties: Three to come from governing political parties, three from parties in opposition and one from another party.

Commissioners may not be members of State Organs, government, central or regional authorities, civil servants, members of the security forces or candidates standing for election; on appointment to the CENI conflicting positions such as these are automatically vacated (Décret no 2010-120, Article 7). Members nominated are proclaimed in a decree by the Council of Ministers and may not be withdrawn by the nominating body; vacancies that arise are filled by the same process (Décret no 2010-120, Articles 8, 11).

Term of office

In general Commissioners serve a non renewable seven year term: However, one third of the voting members of the first CENI (ie those drawn from civil society and the public service) are chosen by lot to retire after five years and members drawn from political parties may be replaced if a presidential election overturns the government (Décret no 2010-120, Articles 11).

Functions

The primary functions of the CENI are laid out in Article 2 of Décret no 2010-120. These are:

• to organise and supervise electoral operations and referenda;
• to compile, announce and publish the provisional results of the polls;
• to give force to electoral legislation at all the levels in order to ensure the credibility of the elections; and
• to coordinate voter education activities.

Specific responsibilities related to polling include (Décret no 2010-120, Article 22, 23):

• The creation of subordinate structures, staff appointments and staff training (see below).
• The maintenance of voters' rolls and their annual update, their publication and the issue of voter cards (see Voter registration and voters' rolls).
• The formation of partnerships with civil society organisations to undertake voter education (see Civic and voter education).
• The receiving and processing of candidate nomination documentation and the publication of official candidate lists (see Candidate nomination for presidency and National Assembly).
• The provision of electoral materials to polling stations, the staffing of polling stations and the publication of polling station locations.
• The accreditation of national and international observers (see Election observation).
• The equitable allocation of public airtime for campaigning (see Mass Media).
• The efficient conduct of polling operations in strict adherence to electoral law and the posting of results outside the polling station.

After polling the CENI must (Décret no 2010-120, Article 24):

• regulate the transport and the direct transfer of the official reports of voting operations to the Independent National electoral commission and its substructures;
• transport electoral reports and documents and transfer results of the polls to a central location, process electoral documentation and proclaim the provisional results of the polls;
• process the communications of candidates or their representatives;
• collect documents and reports and ensure their preservation and compile a report on each election for dissemination to all the organs of State; and
• collect and utilise the reports of national and international observers.

CENI board

At its first meeting, which must be convened within 24 hours of its members being sworn into office, the CENI must elect a board of three from amongst the members nominated by Civil Society, consisting of a Chair, Deputy Chair and Rapporteur General, to direct the work of the Commission (Décret no 2010-120, Articles 13, 43). The board members serve a non-renewable term of five years and should a vacancy on the board arise a replacement is elected (Décret no 2010-120, Article 14). Should the office of Chair become vacant his full function is taken on by the Deputy Chair until a new election is held, which must take place within three months of the vacancy arising (Décret no 2010-120, Article 16). The current Chair is Yves Herinirina Rakotomanana of the Advocates' Association. The Chair directs and coordinates the work of the CENI and (Décret no 2010-120, Article 15):

• represents the CENI in public life and can be party to legal proceedings on behalf of the CENI;
• directs the utilisation of funds from national budget appropriations or from other funding sources;
• publicises the activities, decisions and activities schedules of the CENI; and
• presents an annual report of CENI activities distributed to all the organs of State.

Executive Secretariat

The CENI is assisted in its work by an Executive Secretariat headed by an Executive Secretary who is recruited by a general advertisement of the post, nominated by the CENI and appointed by a Presidential Decree (Décret no 2010-120, Article 18). The Executive Secretary must participate in the meetings of the CENI, but has no voting rights (Décret no 2010-120, Article 19). The organisation and operations of the Executive Secretariat are laid out in the rules of operational procedure determined by the CENI (Décret no 2010-120, Article 20). The specific function of the Executive Secretariat are to (Décret no 2010-120, Article 19):

• execute the decisions of the CENI and of the board;
• undertake the administration of the CENI and its subordinate structures, in particular its financial management and accounting under the direction of the Chair;
• manage the personnel and assets of the CENI;
• receive, manage and preserve election documentation;
• manage and preserve the central data base of the voters' rolls; and
• provide public information.

Regional, district and commune structures

The work of the CENI is carried from national to the lowest level through regional, district and commune commissions whose members have a renewable three year term of office and are constituted in a similar manner to, but on a smaller scale than, the CENI (Décret no 2010-120, Article 46).

• A Regional Electoral Commission (CER, Commission Electorale Régionale) is composed of 10 members, seven from civil society organisations and three from the governing, opposition and another party respectively (Article 47).
• A District Electoral Commission (CED, Commission Electorale de District) is made up of seven members, three from civil society, an A or B class civil servant nominated by the CENI, a magistrate designated by the High Council of the Judiciary and one representative each from the ruling and opposition parties (Article 52).
• A Commune Electoral Commission (CEC, Commission Electorale Communale) consists of five members, three civil society nominees and two civil servants (Article 55. However, Article 67 permits the CENI, for the first election after its appointment, to appoint all the members on the advice of the District Head).

CERs and CEDs all have boards structured and elected exactly the same as that of the CENI described above, whose members have two year renewable term of office (Décret no 2010-120, Articles 49, 53).

CENI members

In a Council of Ministers decree issued in March 2010 (Décret no 2010-142) 16 of the 19 Commissioners were named, as tabulated below. Nominations for the three posts to be occupied by opposition parties were absent. Four of the 16 (25%) Commissioners were women.

Members of the CENI in March 2010

Section	Commissioner	Organisation
Civil society - Voting members
Election observation bodies	Rasoatsinampoizina Aubierge Sidonie	No data
	Bruno Rakotoarison	No data
	Mamy Auguste Andrianirina	No data
Civil education bodies	Marie Gisèle Ranampy	No data
Human rights bodies	Hanitriniala Rafolisisoa	No data
Professional bodies	Hary Tiana Ralevason	Association of Civil Servants
	James Ramarosaona	Journalists' Association
	Yves Herinirina Rakotomanana - Chairperson	Advocates' Association
	Gervais Tahindro	Law faculties
	Henri Rakotoson	Association of Magistrates
Government - Voting members
Civil service	Jean (sic)	Ministry of the Interior
	Olivier Sylvère Andrianarisata	Ministry of Decentralisation
Political parties - Nonvoting members
Ruling parties	Fanomezantsoa Rakotonirina	No data
	Fredon Armand Ratovondrajao	No data
	Frediss Alvin Raherison	No data
Other parties	Maria Sylvie Raharinarivonirina	No data

Finances

The assets of the defunct National Electoral Council were transferred to the CENI (Décret no 2010-120, Article 70). Funding of the CENI's work comes from general appropriations in the national budget based on annual draft budgets submitted by the CENI as well as special allocations for a specific election and, if necessary, funds from other sources (Décret no 2010-120, Article 44, 57). Financial management and accounting by the CENI is regulated by Articles 58-65 of Décret no 2010-120 which require, among other things, an annual external audit and supervision by the Court of Audit; the findings of both of these must be made public.

Cost of elections

See Cost of elections

Official web sites

High Constitutional Court: [www] http://www.hcc.gov.mg/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=9&Itemid=41 [opens new window] (accessed 25 Jun 2010).

Independent National Electoral Commission: [www] http://www.cne.mg/index2.html [opens new window] (accessed 25 Jun 2010).

Ministry of the Interior: [www] http://www.mid.gov.mg/ [opens new window] (accessed 25 Jun 2010).

References

DÉCRET NO 2010-120 fixant l'organisation, le fonctionnement et les attributions de la Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendant, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/MG/madagascar-decret-no-2010-120-2010-in-french/at_download/file [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 1 Jul 2010).

DÉCRET NO 2010-142 portant nomination des membres qui composeront la CENI a été 24 mars 2010.

EISA 2006 Election Observer Mission Report: Madagascar Presidential Elections, 3 December 2006 [IN ENGLISH & EN FRANÇAIS; PDF document].

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2003 Report on the mission to observe the parliamentary elections held in Madagascar on 15 December 2002, [www] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/election_observation/missions/ 20021215_madagascar_en.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 15 Jun 2010).

LOI ORGANIQUE NO 2002-004 du 3 octobre 2002 relative à l'élection des députés à l'Assemblée nationale, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/MG/Loi%20organique%20no%202002-004.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 14 Jun 2010).

ORDONNANCE NO 2010-003 du 17 mars 2010 portant loi organique relative au Code électoral, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/MG/madagscar-ordonnance-no-2010-003-2010-in-french/at_download/file [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 1 Jul 2010).