Form 5 General Studies (GS) - DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND PRACTICES. [PDF] » Page 4 of 5

Democratic process and democratic elections

Democratization process involves the political reforms to ensure that the principles of democracy are achieved. One major indicator of democratic reforms is to have democratic elections.

Elections

An election is the process of choosing/selecting person by vote for a given position especially in political office

Democratic elections are elections held in an atmosphere in which participants are tolerant or willing to listen to the political views of their opponents and when the electoral law and rules are fair and equal for all contestants.

Factors which make elections democratic (free and fair)

For an election to be declared democratic (free and fair), the following conditions should be observed:

(i) A well developed system of many political parties from which people can choose those they wish to be their representatives.

(ii) Equal opportunities to all parties: Candidates and political parties that are contesting in the election should be treated equally

(iii) Widely accepted rules of the game within which the struggle for power takes place.

iv) Presence of an independent and impartial electoral body. This is required to be honest, competent and non partisan

v) The existence of an independent judiciary to interpret the electro law

vi) Free and fair campaigns : campaigs are political meeting where candidates present their views promise and progmmers and voters ask question .these views can be read or heard from the mass media eg. Radios TVs news paper the posters flies and pamphlets in a democratic state the government allow freedom of expression candinatedes parties and voters are not intimidated threatened bribed or prevented from voting

vii) the campaigns should focus on political and socio- economic issues like poor education decling economy poor health services bad ,infastractucture low crop prices of agricultural product excessive these these problems and not going astray from them.

viii) Equal access to the mass media for all political party the mass media which include radio, television, posters newspaper leaflets, banners stikers and internet influence the way people vote. In democratic election all candidates and parties should have equal access to the media. The existing government or the party in power should not dominated the media or suppress the freedom of the press

ix)Abiding by agreed code of conduct. A code of conduct for a democratic elections a set of rules and regulations that are set by the electoral commission and have to be adhered to all political parties as well as the candidates who are contesting for various political posions.

The Tanzania code of conduct in democratic elections

All parties shall have access to all potential voters. No party shall have an exclusive control of any area.
There shall be no use of inflammatory or derogatory language during campaigns.
There shall be no use of intimidation in any form including death threats and arson.
There shall be no interference or disruption at public meetings during campaigns.
All parties shall commit themselves to a secret ballot and respect cotters right to keep their voters secret.
There shall be ban on carrying and displaying of all weapons during election campaigns and on the voting day.
The security forces shall not take sides or interference with the election process.
Election campaigns shall be conducted daily, the parties and voters shall be tolerant of each other’s point of view.
There shall be no tempering with or interference with voters ballot papers on the election.
All political parties shall undertake to accept the results of the election if the electoral process in declared free and fair

Principles of democratic elections

There are four basic principles of democratic elections;

i) Universal voting/universal suffrage; This is a condition which allows all citizen who have legally meet voting qualifying to vote and be voted for regardless of their sex, race, language, income, profession, education, religion or political beliefs

ii) Equality of votes when an election is democratic each votes carries one vote.

iii) Secret ballot: secret ballot means voting secretly. This condition requires that voting act should not be known by another person, casting of the votes must be in secret.

iv) Direct elections : This when the votesrs decide for themselves who their leaders will be. That action of casting a vote against or for a candidate means that the voters are directly electing their leaders

Free and fair election in Tanzania

The organ responsible for ensuring that elections held are in a free and fair manner is the National Elector commission (NEC ) in mainland Tanzania or Zanzibar electoral commission (ZEC) for the Zanzibar Isles. This national electoral commission is established by parliamentary act but its top officials are appointed by the president of the United republic of Tanzania and it is expected to carry out it activities without interference and impartiality.

Election are said to be free in the sense that any one qualifying vote in allowed o do so without external influence or interference .Fare election is therefore, unlawful for any candidate party or candidate to use Government facilitates or resources for the purpose of complaining .It is again very necessary to note that, all candidate are to be given equal access to state owned media secured are for public rallies and political speech

The following are actions that have been taken to ensure fair and free election in Tanzania

i)Passing an electoral law: This was passed by the parliament to facilitate lawful admistration of the national electoral commission the law stipulates detailed instruction and gives the national electoral commission (NEC) the power to:Design print and control the use of ballot paper: create polling stations, promote civic education, on voting procedures, accredit any non –particular individual or group or an institution or an association to carry out voter education: demarcate constituencies :Determine a polling day, keep and maintain voters register ensure that transparent vote counting is exercised and announce the election result.

ii. Provision of election monitors and observes: These are experts responsible for ensuring equal fairness and justice to candidate and parties. This include NGOS eg TEMCO (Tanzania election monitaring council, LHRC(legal and human right center). TEC(Tanzania Episcopal conference) CCT (Cristian council of Tanzania

iii) Allowing international election observers whose function are to oversee that elections proceeding are in order and that the who exercise maintain a free and fair approach. For example the 1995 ,2000,2005,and 2010 multiparty general elections in Tanzania international observers were invited for the European union, united nations, Africa union, southern Africa development cooperation and East Africa

ELECTION PROCEDURES:

The election process has to undergo a number of stages: these including

Registration of voters; people who are allowed to vote are those who have sound mind and should be citizen of Tanzania and have the age of 18 years and above .registration of votes is done in special areas prepared by the electoral commission. Registration of votes is very important because it help to know the number of voters .it also help to understand who have qualifications of being a votes
Candidate selection: every party in Tanzania has it own way of choosing its candidates to contest for councilors members of parliament and presidential position .every party is supposed to indentify` candidates who are likely to win based on for instance persona ability integrity personanality eloquence and above all with no criminal record.
Organization and management of campaigns: all party candidates given equal opportunities to address the public and present themselves to the voters. All electoral and present themselves to the voters. All electoral campaigns should be done orderly in line with laid out norms and procedures.
Voting: after campaigns people who are qualified as registered voters go to the parties they like. The voting is done through secret ballot each party being represented at the pollingstation.
Vote counting counting of the votes follows immediately after complection of the voting and each polling station reveals its results to the public. Those who have the right to participate in the counting process are the representation of the candidate or the political party.
Announcing the results: The national electoral commission is the only body to announce and the general results of elections. It is responsible to declare winners of all posts starting with those members of parliament and the president

Qualification of candidates contesting for various posts in Tanzania

A political candidate is any person who is qualified for the post he or she is contesting and he or she has been appointed by the political party to contest for that post.

a) a candidate for the councilor post.

A candidate for the councilors post should have the following qualifications.

i) He/she has to be a Tanzanian citizen

ii) He/she has reached the age of 21 years and above

iii) He/she has to master reading and writing Kiswahili or English language

iv) He/she has to be a member of registered political party and be appointed by the party to be a councilor candidate.

v) He/she has to have a credible source of income which will enable her or him to live a decent life.

vi) He/she has to have a resident of the ward or town where he or she is contesting for councillorship.

vii) He/she has to have not less than ten sponsors who have been registered in the ward where he or she is contesting.

viii) He/she must not be convicted for tax evasion for period of 5 years before election.

ix) He/she has to have a bond of 50,000 cash money and submit in to the election supervisor.

x) He/she must take oath using a special form in front of magistrate to testify that he or she has the qualifications to be a councilor and has accepted to be a candidate.

b) a candidate for the parliamentary post

For the parlimenty post a candidate has to have the following qualification.

i) He/she has to be a citizen Tanzania

ii) He/she should have acquired the age 21years and above and be mentally fit.

iii) He/she has to master writing and reading skills in English or Kiswahili language.

iv) He/she must not be convicted for tax evasion for a period of five years before election.

v) He/she has to have at least 25 sponsors who are eligible voters in his or her constituency which her or she is contesting

vi) He/she must be a member of registered political party and be appointed by the party to contest for the parliamentary post in the respective constituency.

vii) He/she should take the oath by using special forms in front of the parliamentary post.

viii) He/she has to have a bond of 500,000 cash money to be submitted to the election supervisor from NEC.

c) A candidate for presidential post.

The qualifications of presidential candidate of the united republic of Tanzania are

i) He/she has to be a citizen of the united republic of Tanzania by birth

ii) He/she has to have reached age of 40 years and above

iii) She/he has to have the qualifications that would enable him or her to be a member of parliament

iv) He/he has to be a member of a registered political party and should be appointed by the party to contest for the presidential post

v) He/he should not have any record of tax evasion within a period of 5 years before election.

vi) He/she has take the oath in front of a judge of referral court to testify that he or she has accepted to be presidential candidate.

vii) He/she has to 200 sponsors who have been registered as eligible votes from all regions of Tanzania. The sponsors should sponsor only one candidate for the presidential post in one election.

Role of various group in the election process:

i) These nominate names of candidates who will contest for the existing vacancies.

ii) Political parties have to provide civic education to their members and the public at large as well as ennglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>courage people to

Participate in political activities e.g. registration and voting.

iii) Political parties have to prepare their party manifestos that disclose what will happen in case a party takes over the executive office.

2. Electoral commission

This is the key organization which over sees the entire election process:

i) It provides voters education

ii) It ensures fair play in elections

iii) It ensures the candidates meet the qualification required for the post they are contesting for:

iv) It prepares votes registration books and updating, it ensures that every person who qualifies to be registered as voter is given a chance to vote.

v) It prepares the constituency centers for voting

vi) It sets the dates of election

vii) It oversees voting activities in the whole country

viii) Announces election result.

The government:

The government has to provide the financial material and security support for the election process:

4. Non –government organization (NGOS)

i) They provide voters education to the citizens by using different means and approached

ii) NGOS must not impart education that can divide people by any means

iii) NGOS are not supposed to take the role of political parties

5. Mass media

i) The mass media should educate people on the importance of participating in the election process

ii) The mass media should be make sure that citizens are aware of political manifestations of very party, and play to be as impartial as possible

iii) The mass media should make people aware of election results as are given by the Elector commission

6. The citizens

This is target group: citizens have a big role to play in election by:

i) Registering in votes registration book:

ii) Participating in the campaigns and listening to the political agendas/ manifestation of different political parties and deciding which to vote for the most appealing

iii) Casting their votes on the voting day

iv) Receiving accepting or rejecting the result.

v) Informing the official if they think there was malpractice in the electoral process. E.g. corruption and intimidation.

The election will therefore be free and fair only when all groups take part in the whole process. The failure of any group to the party of the process is likely to jeopardize the whole exercise

Form 5 General Studies (GS) – DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND PRACTICES.

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