REFERENDUM: A LESSON IN ELECTORAL TURNOUT
in recent years there has been considerably more rhetoric and active attempts by the Argentine Government to impose an economic blockade on the Islands.
This context meant that a clear and unequivocal demonstration of the right of Islanders to choose their own political future was deemed to be necessary.
The Planning Process
Discussions around the need for a referendum began in earnest in early 2012. It quickly became apparent that, as with general elections, a referendum requires a clear legal basis.
Advice was sought on this from external lawyers and in October 2012 the Legislative Assembly passed the Referendum (Falkland Islands Political Status) Ordinance. This Ordinance clearly detailed the process for agreeing the referendum question, the timing, entitlement to vote and staffing provisions. The independent observers that subsequently reviewed this Ordinance found that it provided a sound legal basis for the Referendum
Below: Falkland Islanders queueing to vote in the referendum.
and that it demonstrated the Falkland Islands Government had implemented it free from external pressure.
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Arrangements were then made by the Chief Referendum Officer to ensure the proper conduct of the referendum. Not only did this include ensuring that the referendum process and count itself ran smoothly, but also covered the ensuring of proper conduct during the campaign leading up to it. The Chief Referendum Officer’s powers in this latter area were limited to
extent that the process should be “conducted freely and fairly.” Following
this, there was an open and transparent process to
ensure that the question asked was properly framed so that it resulted in a meaningful outcome. This process ran for three weeks in late
2012 and involved a range of consultation and information- sharing mechanisms across the community. Feedback was received from across the electorate. The end result was a short preamble detailing the context and the following question which voters could answer yes or no to:
Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom? Finally, and with the advice of the Canadian Government, arrangements were made for a panel of experienced independent observers to monitor the referendum itself. This panel was made up of 8 people. The panel came from the USA (2 individuals, the Head and Deputy Head of Mission), Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay and New Zealand (2 individuals). The panel were a mixture of experienced electoral experts and elected members. They worked to and assessed against the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for Election Observers. This declaration was adopted by the United Nations in 2005
Above: Gilbert House is the building in Stanley, Falkland Islands, where the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands meets.
and has been subsequently endorsed by 35 separate election observation groups.
The Referendum Itself Due to the challenging logistics of having voters spread over such a wide area, the referendum was held over two days, on both the 10 and 11 March. Ensuring all eligible voters had a chance to cast their vote was key and therefore a range of methods were utilised. These included postal and proxy votes; multiple static polling stations; an airborne polling station and mobile polling stations. All were properly and well equipped. The observer mission oversaw this process. Votes were cast and ballots collected by appointed officers over those two days. All votes were then collected together in Stanley and ballot boxes were opened on the evening of the 11 June, when counting then took place, fully overseen by the observer mission.
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