The Ministry or State for Federal National Council (FNC) Affairs organised a brainstorming session for the men and women who served as heads of polling stations at the 2015 Federal National Council elections.
The session looks back at the 2015 elections to draw lessons, in addition to exploring international electoral standards and practices, all in an effort to improve the qualifications of the Ministry’s human resources and enable them to run polling stations in upcoming elections.
The session discussed three main topics: the first was polling stations in the pre-elections phase, whereby the session explored furnishing and equipping the polling stations, executive hierarchy, training staff, and preparations for elections day. The second topic, meanwhile, dealt with the voting phase, and touched upon subjects such as dealing with voters, as well as with the technical team, the National Election Commission, and the media; in addition to the e-voting and early voting systems, technical instructions for the elections, and security at the polling stations. The third and final topic revolved around polling stations in the post-elections phase, discussing the proper closing procedures.
His Excellency Tariq Hilal Lootah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs, said: “Guided by the directives of the UAE’s wise leaders, the Ministry or State for Federal National Council Affairs always strives to innovate in order to improve its performance; in fact, one of the main objectives behind these brainstorming sessions is to encourage innovation. Today’s session underlines the critical role that the heads of polling stations played in 2015, and sheds light on the great services that staffers provided as they dealt with electoral college members, providing them with the information they needed to make informed decisions and play their part in this national project.”
“The Emirati parliamentary experience is developing at a rapid pace,” H.E. Lootah asserted, “especially as it makes use of the advancements and successes that the UAE has achieved. This, coupled with the international best practices we are diligently implementing, gives us the confidence to say that we are on the right track to having a world-class parliamentary process.”
The session is one of a series of brainstorming events the Ministry has organised recently that seek to look back on the electoral experience to draw lessons from it, and to explore international standards, all in an effort to keep improving the UAE’s trailblazing electoral experience.