Rumiko Seya, Secretary General of the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention

Rumiko Seya

Born in Gunma Prefecture in 1977. Graduated from Chuo University and received an MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford in the UK. Specialist in post-conflict peacebuilding and reintegration of ex-combatants into society. In the past she held various positions in conflict areas, such as NGO staff (Rwanda), UN volunteer (Sierra Leone), Special Assistant to the Ambassador (Japanese Embassy, Afghanistan), and UN Peacekeeping Operations staff (Côte d'Ivoire). She became Secretary General of the JCCP in April 2007.

JCCP's website http://www.jccp.gr.jp/

The topic for today, elections, involves a method designed to reflect the political will of the public. Since implementing an election is a complex process, if a post-conflict nation can conduct a successful election, it demonstrates that the country's systems and the people's lives have improved to some degree.

On the other hand, if the election isn't fair, the public will be upset and the situation may spark a new dispute. Elections, then, must be fair in order not to frustrate people's expectations at a time when they finally have hope for the future.

So how should a fair election be conducted?

First, regulations concerning the election, requirements for the candidates, the legal age for voters, and other matters must be set. Next, those of voter age need to be registered. People not only within the country but also in neighboring countries--such as the displaced or refugees--must be informed about the election and provided access to vote.

To facilitate this process, it may be necessary to communicate the election process and the importance of voting in each tribal language as well as in pictures. This point was made by a reader from Oita Prefecture and other readers proposed making posters and flyers. I also know of an idea that involved creating a play to explain an upcoming election.

Right picture = A ballot used in Rwanda. A voter selects the candidate of their choice by pressing their inked thumb next to the candidate's photo. Left picture = Counting ballots in public in Rwanda. (Both photos taken by Rumiko Seya in 2001)

In terms of the actual voting, in order to establish security at the polls, the weapons held by former combatants must be collected by election time or guards should be placed at polling sites to prevent arms from being carried. These points were raised by students of Sagotani Junior High School and Gion Higashi Junior High School in Hiroshima.

In some cases, the international community dispatches election observers to check for any wrongdoing in the process, such as threats made by candidates to voters prior to the polling or the exclusion of any groups from receiving adequate information about the election.

For voting, a "secret ballot" is used in which the voter is anonymous and can mark the ballot in private. Such steps are important to allay the fear that losing candidates may try to strike back at voters after the election.

As students from Sagotani Junior High School and Gion Higashi Junior High School suggested, in countries where many people are unable to read or write due to a long-term conflict interfering with their education, voters can be provided with ballots that show the candidates' photos and asked to make a simple mark for the candidate of their choice.

For example, in Rwanda, voters make a thumbprint in ink next to the photo of the candidate they prefer. And in Indonesia, voters punch a hole next to a candidate's photo with a stick. While in Japan the information about voters is maintained by computer, in countries without such a system, voters who have cast their ballot receive a stain of semi-permanent ink on their finger, lasting for a few days, to prevent a person from voting more than once. Counting the ballots is then usually done in public to thwart any attempt at fraud.

Compared to election turnouts in Japan, which tend to be light, elections in post-conflict countries are an event of great hope in which citizens can feel that a new society is being formed and the people themselves can take part in this process. Incentives like money or food are not needed to bring voters to the polls.

Through elections, people come to understand that the individual has the right and duty to choose the country's leaders and they themselves are responsible for building the new nation. Beyond choosing new leaders, this is the key role of elections.