Together Gibraltar says it is important to highlight what it describes as “inherent flaws” within Gibraltar’s electoral system. The party has homed in on six issues raised by the Democracy Volunteers team that visited Gibraltar during October’s General Election.

A statement continued: “We welcome and commend the feedback provided by Democracy Volunteers and would like to add to it by providing our own insight as contenders in the electoral process. It is important to start by highlighting the fact that we are dealing with voting rights. These are among our most fundamental rights, enshrined in our constitution and one of the core tenets of our social contract. Every failure to guarantee these basic rights is an intolerable affront to our citizens and to democracy as a whole. We will proceed by addressing the six specific issues raised in the report:

Lack of means by which blind/partially sighted voters to cast their ballot secretly and independently.

“On this point, Democracy Volunteers observers noted that for those individuals who required help due to a disability or old age, their voters’ ballots were not afforded the same secrecy as others. It is important to highlight that the pernicious effects of violating voter secrecy in Gibraltar are most likely magnified by the small population size. Gibraltar is a tightly knit community where anonymity is almost non-existent, and people often express fear of revealing political dissidence for fear of reprisal.

Large number of sample ballot papers and their removal/disposal

“The report focuses on the visibility of the dummy ballot papers and the sustainability of these practices. We appreciate the fact that they highlight Together Gibraltar’s efforts to minimise the impact of these practices by stating that: “Many of our interlocutors told us they are considering switching away from these towards a single poster/board being used to show voters where their party is on the ballot paper.

“We believe this issue is a wider one, whose impacts go far beyond the issue of sustainability. The practice of dummy ballots is anachronistic and unnecessary. The reasons that made them necessary (illiteracy and language impediments) have mostly been addressed and for the few cases that still require extra help, there are ways to provide better assistance. For Together Gibraltar, the most important issue here is that the practice of circulating dummy ballots enables party activists to stand outside polling stations, sometimes in large numbers, canvassing (sometimes to the point of intimidation) voters on their way to the polls. This is unnecessary and democratically unacceptable, and we must end these practices by any means necessary.

Lack of Purdah

“Democracy Volunteers suggest that implementing a legal period of purdah for example, the entire period of an election from the date it is called until the close of polls. This would serve to restrict the announcement of major infrastructure projects or controversial government initiatives. This is something that for ethical reasons, Together Gibraltar fully agrees with/

Candidates remaining in polling stations for extended periods of time

“This is another cause for concern and unacceptable from a moral and ethical standpoint. Democracy Volunteers report that on a few occasions, candidates were seen lingering inside the entrance of the polling stations greeting voters and on one occasion were seen to indicate where to vote on the ballot paper to a member of the public. This could be considered intimidation of a voter.

Serious concerns on voter registration

“Democracy Volunteers noted that on polling day observers witnessed several voters apparently being denied their vote as they either hadn’t registered with the relevant authorities or they were potential cases of personation. Being denied the right to vote is antidemocratic, as anecdotally, more than the reported number occurred. Clerical errors should not be happening at such an important occasion where people exercise their basic democratic vote. Together Gibraltar feels this is the fault of an antiquated system that needs modernising, so people are registered electronically to eradicate such errors.

Concerns on gender imbalances

“It did not escape Democracy Volunteers’ attention that when assessing the incumbent and official opposition parties only 10% of candidates were female. This is an issue Together Gibraltar feels strongly about, as it is one of representation. A recent report by the World Economic Forum raised political representation as a concern regarding gender inequality. In Gibraltar the figure of women holding parliamentary seats is 11.8% (2 out of 17) and only 10% in a ministerial position (1 out of 10). Both GSLP/Libs and GSD only had one woman each in their slate in the recent general election. This is an issue we flagged during the election process as being an important one. However, one of the reasons given by the main governing Party for not having more women was Brexit and how it wouldn’t be beneficial to change team at this delicate time, despite most ministers not dealing with Brexit directly. Additionally, the implication that having a slate of nine men and one woman represented the “best person for job” implies that they didn’t believe there were enough women of calibre to fulfil those duties. This is in stark contrast with Together Gibraltar that chose a slate of five men and five women as chosen by the membership. Democracy Volunteers note that Together Gibraltar had a parity slate, however noted that even with this, the number of female candidates standing for election was very much insufficient. Another issue on gender representation was that in polling stations 78% of staff were female. Clearly, there must be a greater emphasis on balancing duties on election day.”