Comissão Nacional de Eleições (Portugal)

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The Comissão Nacional de Eleições (CNE), Portuguese for "National Electoral Commission", is an independent commission that controls the independence, equality and legality of elections and referendums in the Republic of Portugal . It is made up of volunteers elected by parliament, as well as appointed civil servants and lawyers.

The elections in Portugal are carried out by the Secretaria Geral da Administração Interna ( Portuguese for: General Secretariat for Internal Administration), the State Secretariat in the Portuguese Interior Ministry ( Ministério da Administração Interna ) and monitored by the CNE.

Tasks and composition

The electoral commission's extensive tasks include:

  • The political education and clarification of the Portuguese population about the upcoming elections and referendums
  • Maintaining equal voting rights for all citizens as well as all candidates and parties during the election campaign
  • Distribution of airtime for election advertising among the various television and radio stations
  • Supervision and organization of the vote counting

The electoral commission is made up of "deserving" citizens who are determined by the parliamentary groups of the Assembleia da República and elected by the plenary. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , the Ministry of the Interior and the Media Unit each appoint an official for the Commission. The Council of Judges ( Conselho Superior de Magistratura ) also appoints an advisory judge of the Portuguese Constitutional Court for the commission.

The members of the commission are appointed up to the thirtieth day after the beginning of a parliamentary legislature and sworn in before the President of Parliament up to the thirtieth day after the election or appointment. Members are part of the body until a new commission is appointed or until they stand for an election in Portugal.

The tasks, composition and other regulations are laid down in Laws 71/78 and 4/2000.

history

For the election to the constituent assembly in 1976 it was necessary to convene an electoral commission in order to enable all electoral lists to participate equally in the elections. Therefore, on the basis of decreto-lei 621- / 74 on February 27, 1975 in a ceremony in the Palácio de São Bento , Prime Minister Major General Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves of the fourth provisional government took part in the ceremony. Representatives of the parties were also part of the election commission.

However, this proved to be a hindrance, the Commission felt unable to carry out its tasks. The composition was then changed with Acts 85-D / 75, 101/75 and 137-D / 75, and the parties were no longer part of the commission. From then on there were no intervening events; it then properly disbanded on July 1, 1975 after 40 meetings.

For the upcoming regular, first parliamentary elections , a new, regular election commission was created on the basis of Law 25-A / 76. Their function was enshrined in Law 93-B / 76 and their own statutes in Law 106-A / 76. The new electoral commission began its duties on February 10, 1976 in the presence of Prime Minister Admiral José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo .

Since the commission convened for each election turned out to be impractical, on December 27, 1978, Law 71/78 introduced the regulation that is still valid today that the members remain in office until a new commission is appointed.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lei nº 71/78 - Cria a Comissão Nacional de Eleições. (PDF) In: Diário da República. Assembleia da República, December 27, 1978, pp. 2745f. , accessed June 20, 2014 (Portuguese).
  2. ↑ Lei nº 71/78 - Cria a Comissão Nacional de Eleições. (PDF) In: Diário da República. Assembleia da República, December 27, 1978, pp. 2745f. , accessed June 20, 2014 (Portuguese).
  3. ^ Decreto-Lei n ° 621-C / 74 de 15 de Novembro (excerto). (PDF) Governo provisório, November 15, 1974, accessed June 20, 2014 (Portuguese).
  4. ↑ a b c d Origem. Comissão Nacional de Eleições, accessed June 20, 2014 (Portuguese).