VOTING GOES SMOOTHLY IN MONGOLIAQS

UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000322


SENSTIVE

STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/EX, DRL AND INR/EAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL KPAO MG
SUBJECT: VOTING GOES SMOOTHLY IN MONGOLIAQS
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

REF: (A) ULAANBAATAR 320
(B) WIEGAND-SES-O-WATCHTEAM EMAILS 29June2008

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Voting in MongoliaQs Parliamentary
elections went smoothly and ended on schedule at 10 pm on
Sunday, June 29; election authorities then started the
lengthy process of vote-counting. Preliminary returns
were not expected to be available until well into June
30, at the earliest. Initial statistics on voter
turnout, provided by the General Election Commission,
suggested heavy turnout (estimated in the 70-80% range).
According to information from Embassy UlaanbaatarQs 23
credentialed election observers (deployed within the
capital and to the provinces of Khovd, Bulgan, Orkhon,
Arhangai and Tov),voting in most areas went without a
hitch, and the media noted the AmbassadorQs visits to
several polling stations. Except for one minor scuffle,
there were no reports of election-related violence. At a
vast majority of polling stations, processing was
orderly, transparent and in accordance with MongoliaQs
Election Law. Observers said the rights of partisan
election monitors were respected, and that election
facilities and arrangements were generally good and
election officials ere cooperative, flexible and
effective. There were several allegations of vote-
buying, but no concrete evidence to support these
allegations has emerged. In at least two locations,
government officials were accused of distributing new
national ID cards on election day. The vote-counting
could take as much as a few days, and runoffs could
complicate the process. While it is too early to label
SundayQs election an unqualified success, Mongolians
exercised their right to vote, reinforcing their emerging
transformation to democracy. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) At 10 pm on Sunday, June 29, voting in
MongoliaQs Parliamentary elections ended as scheduled and
election authorities started the lengthy process of vote-
counting. Limited preliminary returns may emerge late in
the day on June 30. Initial statistics on voter
turnout, provided in the middle of Election Day by the
General Election Commission (GEC),indicated heavy
turnout in line with previous elections (typically 70-
80%),but late-afternoon rains in some parts of the
country may have dampened overall turnout. Swollen
rivers and muddy terrain from earlier rains had been
expected to keep some voters from voting. Some 356
candidates, competed in 26 districts (20 in the provinces
and six in Ulaanbaatar) for 76 seats in Parliament.
Unlike the 2004Parliamentary elections, in which each
voter selected a single candidate, this yearQs elections
involved multi-member constituencies, voters could pick
two, three or four candidates (depending on the
population of their district).

VOTING WENT SMOOTHLY; ONE MINOR SCUFFLE REPORTED
--------------


3. (SBU) According to information from Embassy UBQs 23
credentialed election observers (deployed within the
capital and to the provinces of Khovd, Bulgan, Orkhon,
Arhangai and Tov),voting in most areas went smoothly.
This was echoed by some of the 17 observers affiliated
with The Asia Foundation (TAF),and others deployed by
the Asia Pacific Democracy Partnership (APDP). With the
exception of one minor altercation in UB between a
supporter of the ruling Mongolian PeopleQs Revolutionary
Party (MPRP) and a supporter of the opposition Democratic
Party (DP),there were no reports of election-related
violence.

PROCESSING TRANSPARENT AND IN LINE WITH ELECTION LAW
--------------


4. (SBU) Observers reported that at a vast majority of
polling stations, processing was orderly, transparent and
in accordance with the Election Law; that the rights of
partisan election monitors were respected; and that
election authorities were generally cooperative, flexible
and effective. The police presence was low-key,
described by one observer as "unobtrusive." An American
observer who had witnessed at least three Parliamentary
elections in Mongolia said international observers were
better treated in these elections than in previous ones.
Voter lists at polling stations visited by PostQs
observers ranged from more than 4,000 voters at certain
UB stations, to as few as 416 voters at a polling station
in a converted ger in the town of Nariingol ("Narrow
River") in a remote area of far-western Khovd Province.
(Note: Goats, cows and motorcycles outnumbered people;
some of the latter traveled 40 km to vote, according to
one of PostQs observers. End Note.)

VOTE-BUYING ALLEGED, BUT EVIDENCE HAS YET TO SURFACE
--------------


5. (SBU) PostQs election Command Center received several
allegations of vote-buying, but none were supported by
concrete evidence. The allegations started flying even
before the start of balloting. In Tsetserleg, capital of
the central province of Arkhangai, a DP member accused
MPRP members of handing out cash on June 28. No evidence
to support that accusation has emerged. However, in the
same city, on the same day, Democrats said they had
"followed and photographed little old ladies who were
making their rounds and passing out MPRP cash." The DP
said it immediately shared the photos with the General
Election Commission; post has not seen the photos and
cannot confirm their existence. Also on June 28, in the
northern city of Darkhan, a member of the Civil Will
Party (which, along with the New National Party, is
currently a junior party in the three-party, MPRP-led
coalition government) alleged that DP members were
passing out cash and promising more later, after the
payeeQs vote was "confirmed." No concrete evidence had
emerged. In UBQs Chingeltei District, a citizen filed a
complaint alleging that DP buses were used to transport
voters to polling stations, and that en route, bribes
were being offered in exchange for votes for DP
candidates. A DP district election official reported a
similar claim made against the MPRP. No evidence to
support these allegations has emerged. Vote-buying with
rice was alleged by individuals in UBQs densely populated
and low-income Bayanzurkh District (where other
unsubstantiated irregularities were also suspected). In
UBQs Bayangol District, an election commissioner informed
one of our observers that an aide to MPRP candidate
Bolormaa was trying to bribe voters; no evidence was
provided.

NEW ID CARDS REPORTEDLY ISSUED IN SOME LOCATIONS
--------------


6. (SBU) In a village outside the northern mining city of
Erdenet, in the tiny province of Orkhon, DP and Civil
Will party monitors informed election observers that a
village chief (most are MPRP members) had distributed
around 100 new national ID cards to local residents, many
of whom are soldiers (based at a nearby military training
camp). The matter was reported to election authorities.

In UBQs elite Sukhbaatar District, the nominal voting
residence of the President, Speaker and Prime Minister
(and visited by the Ambassador in two of his four stops
at polling stations),Mongolian national television
reported that the District Governor and three "social
workers" reportedly distributed at least 60 new national
ID cards to local residents. Election authorities are
understood to have referred the case to police.

ELDERLY WOMEN SAID TO CAMPAIGN IN FRONT OF POLLING
STATIONS
--------------


7. (SBU) In Tsetserleg, as well as in UBQs gritty
Songinokhairkhan District observers saw an elderly woman
standing outside a polling station encouraging inbound
voters to support the MPRP. The woman was asked to
leave. In the same district, a group of elderly women
were reportedly standing outside a polling station,
drumming up support for the MPRP (in contravention of the
Election Law, which required all forms of campaigning
cease at mid-night on June 27). They too were asked to
leave.

VARIOUS ELECTION-RELATED DISPUTES
--------------


8. (SBU) Other election-related disputes involved the
following:

-- In the UBQs Songinokhairkhan District, more than 200
voters were reportedly deemed ineligible to vote because
of discrepancies on their two key forms of ID: their
national ID card and their voter card. Later in the day,
however, GEC Chairman Battulga made clear that the
individuals in question should be allowed to vote. It
was not clear whether their quest to vote was, in the
end, successful. (Note: The difference in information on
the two cards related to a communityQs name change; the
votersQ older national ID cards identified their home
area by one name -- e.g., Formosa - while their voter
cards identified it by another - e.g. Taiwan. End Note.)

-- At a polling stations in the city of Baganuur, in
central Tov province, voting booths were set up in front
of a bank of mirrors, possibly enabling people to see how
voters were marking their ballot. In UBQs Bayanzurkh
District, an observer found that partisan election
monitors were seated directly behind voting booths,
violating the right to privacy.

-- Also in Bayanzurkh district, a British election
observer allegedly saw a stack of unused voter cards.
Outside the same polling station, her Mongolian
translator allegedly overheard a man telling someone over
a cell phone, "ItQs not too busy now; you should bring
over more people."

-- During one of at least three news conferences by GEC
leaders carried live on TV on Election Day, GEC Secretary
General Bayarsaikhan said there had been a "lot of
movement" of voters from UB to Darkhan. This was seen by
some Mongolian viewers as a reference to the illegal
movement of voters.

-- At UBQs southwestern Khan-Uul district, an Embassy
observer saw a car lurking by the back door of a polling
station not long after the start of voting. When the
observer approached, the car sped off quickly; it was
unclear why.


WHAT NOW?
--------------


9. (SBU) In the biggest and most hotly-contested
districts, vote-counting could take days, and runoffs
could complicate the process (ref A). Post will report
front-channel on election results, when they are
available.

MINTON