Balkan Province Election Commission: Voter Education

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000164 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TX SUBJECT: Balkan Province Election Commission: Voter Education Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Poloff met with a by now familiar, enthusiastic, Balkan Welayat (region) election commission in the regional capital, Balkanabat, on January 31. There was ample evidence that the commission was working to make the local presidential election process open and available to all eligible voters. Balkan Welayat Deputy Mayor Begmyrat Gylyjov, commission head and main spokesperson, deflected only one question (about the physical process of marking the ballot),saying that instructions on the subject would be announced within the next 24 hours on national television. Gylyjov volunteered that the Balkan Welayat presidential candidate (Turkmenbasy Mayor) Ashyrniyazov Pomanov's platform was initially Balkan-centric, but had evolved to be more nationally inclusive as the national campaign progressed. End Summary. Experienced Election Committee -------------- 2.(SBU) On the heels of the July 2006 village and the early-December 2006 city and district people's councils elections, the election commission expressed confidence the welayat was ready for the February 11 presidential election. In fact, committee members said the current election was simpler, because there were only six candidates and one national ballot. Most of their attention, therefore, was focused on voter education: telling people when and where to vote, and providing information on the candidates and their platforms. The committee said that the polling stations used in the July and December 2006 elections would be used again for the vote, and were already being used for voter outreach. ¶3. (SBU) Asked about door-to-door notification practices, they proudly said that a group of hired workers were participating in a welayat-wide voter notification campaign. One committee member said that "every shepherd," of which there are many in Balkan Welayat, would be notified, with voting information extended to every small hamlet where the shepherds resided. Moreover, voters would have the opportunity to vote at their assigned polling station one day prior to the election, using a nationalized "absentee ballot" system. Voter Education Centers -------------- ¶4. (U) When the meeting concluded, the election committee took poloff to visit two polling stations. Each was open during regular business hours, and each already had all eligible voters' names, with birth years and addresses, posted on the walls. In addition, the door-to-door voter educators' names were posted, along with the specific areas each person was assigned to cover. Gylyjov and the committee members noted on several occasions that the workers' job was only to notify voters about when and where to vote, and that they were strictly prohibited from advocating for any particular candidate. ¶5. (U) All six candidates' pictures, biographies and platforms were posted in the polling station, along with voter education booklets for distribution to interested voters and a staff member ready to answer voters' questions. The second of the two sites visited was a public school. The school polling station was located in the entryway hallway, where former President Niyazov's pictures and books have typically been displayed. The Local Candidate -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Both Gylyjov and the committee members agreed that Balkan Welayat presidential candidate, Turkmenbashy City Mayor Ashyrniyaz Pomanov, began his campaign on a platform chiefly reflecting welayat needs and concerns: drinking water, road improvement, and port expansion. However, Gylyjov was quick to point out that as Pomanov's campaign dispersed geographically his platform took on issues of national concern and interest to other regions, including ASHGABAT 00000164 002 OF 002 a licorice factory and a bridge over the Amu Darya River in Lebap Welayat. ¶7. (U) Gylyjov said he did not know if local voters would favor Pomanov as a "welayat son," because a voter's choice was a personal one that should not be influenced. He added that no polls would be taken prior to the election to gauge voters' preferences, because a poll result could unduly impact a voter's choice. Committee members noted the favorable response by voters throughout the welayat to having access to all six candidates at the series of official meetings organized by the commission. The face-to-face opportunities to hear candidates directly and ask questions galvanized voters' enthusiasm, he said. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) This meeting was held at a table littered with former President Niyazov's five books, but the Turkmenistan attendees projected a spirit of genuine pride at the national election process that seemed to transcend any faux nationalism along Niyazov's mandatory lines. The committee members were plainly proud of their electoral preparations and excited over the approach of Election Day. They expressed gratitude for the embassy's interest in all three elections held in Turkmenistan during the past eight months, and invited poloff to return on February 11. Like embassy's other regional trips in the past month, this visit encountered a fresh atmosphere and perhaps embryonic new modalities -- however modest by non-Turkmenistan standards -- within Turkmenistan's electoral landscape. End Comment. BRUSH