A delegation from the Congress took part in the regional Conference on “Misuse of administrative resources during electoral processes: a major challenge for democratic elections” held in London on 9-10 November 2017. The Conference was co-organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Venice Commission, in cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. The Conference provided the opportunity to further develop a comprehensive approach for combating misuse of administrative resources and to follow up on the work carried out by the Congress with regard to preventing such malpractice in the context of local and regional elections.
Stewart DICKSON, Congress’ Thematic Spokesperson on the observation of local and regional elections, presented the “Checklist for compliance with international standards and best practices preventing misuse of administrative resources during electoral processes at local and regional level”, adopted by the Congress in March 2017. The “Checklist” has been a consequence of Congress’ Resolution 402(2016) on the role of local and regional elected representatives and public officials with regard to abuse of state resources during elections and is meant to be an orientation guide for the implementation of international standards and best practices. Xavier CADORET, Vice-President of the Congress, intervened on the practical aspects of the misuse of administrative resources, as reported further to election observation missions. Professor Christina BINDER, Congress’ expert on election observation, elaborated on concrete follow-up to observers’ recommendations.
