For the last 37 years, Electoral matters of Colombia have been ruled by the Electoral Code of 1986. The electoral, political, social and technological changes that the country has faced create the need to update and modernize the electoral regulations to respond to the current social and institutional demands.

For this reason, the National Civil Registry (RNEC), with the National Electoral Council (CNE), presented an electoral reform to the Congress of the country. The new Electoral Code was approved after conciliation between the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Republic of Columbia. But first, it will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. The new Electoral Code is a statutory law containing 275 articles that updates the text of 1986, regulating the electoral mechanisms and the powers of the RNEC and the CNE Colombia.

   Among the relevant points approved is the difference between electoral citizenship and youth citizenship. Learn more about the electoral code reform in Colombia here! 

National Election Office of Hungary

The central organizations of the Hungarian electoral administration celebrated their 10th anniversary

   In Hungary, the National Election Office (NEC) and the National Election Committee (NEC) celebrated their 10th anniversary in Budapest with the participation of several public dignitaries. Dr. Attila Nagy, President of the National Election Office, expressed his gratitude to the partners cooperating in the elections and to the election administration for their work so far. He emphasized that the creation of the Office goes beyond a simple organizational decision. He said the decision "confirms the importance of the tasks that the organization has to perform and reflects the expectations placed on it to be an independent and impartial body to ensure the legitimate and smooth conduct of the vote." Read more 

    The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea hosted the Seoul International Forum on Elections (SIFE) online on May 30 from 2 p.m. at the NEC Secretariat Office in Gwacheon.

   SIFE, which began in 2015 and marked its ninth edition this year, is an international forum held annually by the NEC to discuss democracy and elections, inviting officials from world election bodies and international organizations.

   Tae-ak Rho, the Chairperson of the NEC, delivered opening remarks, and Danish Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Svend Olling and Secretary General of A-WEB In-sik Jang delivered congratulatory remarks, while about 180 election officials and experts participated through the form of a webinar.

   The forum was composed of two sessions under the theme ‘Sustainable Elections: Towards a Better Future.' Session one, ‘Public Participation: A Sustainable Approach to Ensure Election Management Trust,' discussed ways to recover trust in election management and reflect the increased desire of the people to participate in politics. Session two, ‘Campaign Materials: A Challenge for Voters’ Right to Know and Environmental Protection,' introduced cases of an eco-friendly production of election promotional materials, a means of guaranteeing voters' right to know and choice of candidates, and discussed ways to utilize them.

Portuguese National Electoral Commission

The 19th International Symposium on Electoral Affairs, organized by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) in partnership with the National Electoral Commission (CNE), has been postponed. 

For more information, please contact electoral@parlicentre.org.

International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)

“IFES’ ElectionJudgments.org database compiles election-related judgments and resources for practitioners, researchers, judges, and others interested in electoral justice. The database has over 300 resources in multiple languages and is constantly expanding. Some of its most recent additions are election judgments from Colombia, Palestine, and Kenya, which focus on key legal issues such as candidacy rights, candidate eligibility, and gender considerations. New resources include Kenya’s 2022 Benchbook on Election Dispute Resolution and IFES’ Alternative Dispute Resolution in Elections Practitioner’s Brief.

IFES is looking for more resources to add to this database. If your EMB has any new or interesting judgments or resources it would like to submit, please email them to: JShipley@ifes.org.”

 Delegation of the A-WEB Secretariat participated in the 1st Issyk-kul Electoral Forum in the Kyrgyz Republic

   The delegation of the A-WEB Secretariat, Director General Mr. KwanJae Choi and Deputy Director of the Publicity and Training Department, Ms. Rita Taeryung Lee, attended the 1st Issyk-Kul Electoral Forum 22-24 June 2023 in response to the official invitation from the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic. 

   The delegation from the A-WEB Secretariat had a chance to make a presentation with the title [A-WEB: a platform for Capacity Building for its member Election Management Bodies]. The presentation comprises an Overview of A-WEB, Capacity Building Programs, Implications & Lessons learned, and How to Join the A-WEB community.

     The presentation also focused on the election ICT capacity-building program in the Kyrgyz Republic, which integrated cascade training for Precinct election commission officials, customized training for various targeted groups and election visitor programs. Ms. Rita Taeryung Lee, deputy director of the Training and Publicity Department of the A-WEB Secretariat, during her presentation, emphasized that it is crucial to conduct training programs for the RIGHT people with the interested topics so that what trainees learned from the Program to be applied to the real world.  Read more on the whole forum held in the Kyrgyz Republic

Secretary General of A-WEB gave lectures for building capacity for local council members and officers

   During May-June, local councils in South Korea invited Dr. In-sik Jang, Secretary General of A-WEB, to their training and workshops. In response to their invitations, Dr. Jang delivered lectures to city council members and policy-making officers in Seosan, a city in South Chungcheong Province, the Seogu Council of Gwangju Metropolitan City and the Council of Yangcheon District in Seoul. Based on more than 30 years of career in the National Assembly Secretariat, Dr. Jang has been disseminating his knowledge and experiences to members and officers of local councils, mainly focusing on inspection and investigation of governmental affairs, which contributes to preventing corruption of local admin and building good governance.

More information on the Secretary General of A-WEB is accessible here!

Survey for the Conference on the 10th Anniversary of A-WEB

Message from the Chairperson of A-WEB, Mosotho Moepya

Dear members of A-WEB,

The Secretariat would like to extend its warm greetings to you and all in your esteemed office. Please click on the link below and you will find the survey comprised of four parts: Organization/membership; Policy; Program/Activity; and Communication. You can choose languages among English, French, Spanish and Russian. 

(En) https://forms.gle/3EtyPf2MwJtj1cxz8

(Fr)  https://forms.gle/LaoY8xNgQafyDemPA  

(Sp) https://forms.gle/bxNbGVMqnSCfyiuR6  

(Ru) https://forms.gle/FYi6RQCtCP376MRP8 

Please answer a total of 26 questions. If you have any questions regarding the survey, please feel free to contact the Secretariat at aweb131014@gmail.com.

Thank you for your cooperation.

   We are thrilled to announce the 11th A-WEB (Association of World Election Bodies) Executive Board Meeting, scheduled to take place from the 10th to the 14th of July 2023 in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. This highly anticipated event will bring together representatives from the 19 Executive Board Members and the 2 Oversight and Audit Committee Members.
   During this exclusive meeting, the Executive Board will engage in strategic deliberations encompassing a range of crucial topics. The agenda will include the approval of new membership applications, reports on budget and project implementation, as well as in-depth discussions on important issues pertaining to the governance of the Association.

- A-WEB's Executive Board Members:
To gain a deeper understanding of the governing body of A-WEB and discover the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) that comprise the Executive Board, please visit our official website: http://aweb.org/eng/article/contents.do?menuNo=300092
- Stay Connected:
To stay informed about the latest updates and initiatives, we encourage you to follow A-WEB's official Facebook page and sign up for our monthly newsletters. By doing so, you'll remain connected with the A-WEB community and be the first to receive valuable insights and news.

The Secretariat requests that members of A-WEB pay the annual membership fee of USD 10,000 for the year 2023. Each member has its own account and the annual membership fee paid by a member is managed individually.

To inform the Secretariat of the completion of the transfer, all members who have finalized the transaction are requested to send a copy of the remittance receipt issued by the bank to the Secretariat via aweb131014@gmail.com: the document should include information such as sender name, amount sent and date of transfer. 

 For any questions regarding the membership fee, please feel free to contact the Secretariat at aweb131014@gmail.com as well. more details