Guinea: Voter card, including the application process, its appearance and the information indicated on the card (2009-September 2016)

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Overview

According to Article 32 of Organic Law No. 91/012/CTRN on the Electoral Code (Loi organique n° 91/012/CTRN portant Code électoral), the Independent National Electoral Commission (Commission électorale nationale indépendante, CENI) of Guinea [translation] "is responsible for designing and printing voter cards" (Guinea 1992). Under Article 33, the same law provides that [translation] "the model, the issuance process and the period of validity of the voter cards are determined by CENI" (ibid.).

Sources indicate that CENI launched a new model of the voter card for each election in 2010, 2013 and 2015 (CENAFOD 10 Aug. 2016; Baldé 8 Oct. 2015). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the African Training Centre for Development (Centre africain de formation pour le développement, CENAFOD), a Guinean NGO that launched Regard citoyen, a platform for Guinean civil society to monitor the 2015 elections (Mosaïque Guinée [2015]; Guinée7 14 Aug. 2015), specified that the different voter card models were used for the presidential elections in 2010 and 2015, and for the legislative elections in 2013 (CENAFOD 10 Aug. 2016).

2. Application Process

According to Article 3 of the electoral code, all Guineans who have reached the age of 18 at the time the electoral list closes are considered voters (Guinea 1992). The CENAFOD representative reported that voter cards are issued to people registered on the voter list (CENAFOD 10 Aug. 2016). Article 19 of the electoral code indicates that

[translation]

Voter lists are established and revised on the presentation of one of the following documents:

•identity card;

•passport;

•military booklet;

•civilian or military pension booklet;

•student card for the current school year;

•consular card;

•an attestation issued by the neighbourhood or district head and countersigned by two headmen, for the districts. (Guinea 1992)

The CENAFOD representative also indicated that registration occurs upon presentation of an identity document in [translation] "the voter's constituency" (CENAFOD 10 Aug. 2016). According to the representative, the applicant receives a receipt following registration (ibid.).

In the Voter Awareness Guide (Guide de sensibilisation des électeurs), published prior to the 2015 presidential elections, CENI provides the following instructions for collecting voter cards:

[translation]

•Thirty (30) days before the vote, voter cards will be distributed at the various locations;

…

•You must collect your voter card by presenting the receipt provided by the administrative commission when registering.

•You must visit the administrative commission for voter card distribution …

NOTE: CENI will announce to voters the voter card distribution period following the publishing and correction of the voter list… (Guinea Aug. 2015, 4)

Similarly, the CENAFOD representative stated that one must [translation] "show up with their receipt at the voter card distribution commission located at the neighbourhood head office to collect their voter card," and that the cards are distributed in the 30 days leading up to the vote (10 Aug. 2016).

3. Appearance and Information Indicated on the Voter Card

Article 35 of the electoral code sets out the following:

[translation]

Every voter shall receive a voter card that reflects the information on the electoral list [surnames, given names, parentage, occupation, date and place of birth, and neighbourhood or district of residence (Guinea 1992, Art. 12)] and that indicates the location of the voting office where the voter is to vote. This distribution will commence no earlier than thirty (30) days before the vote and will end the day before the vote.

The voter card is strictly personal and cannot be transferred, sold or negotiated. (Guinea 1992)

The CENAFOD representative explained that the information and details indicated on the voter cards issued between 2009 and 2016 are as follows:

[translation]

voter number on the voting list, voter number on the voter list, surname and given names, date and place of birth, sex, "faille" number [sic], mother and father, occupation, region, prefecture/commune/subprefecture/neighbourhood/sector, voting office number, series number.

The Republic's coat of arms and the voter's photograph also appear on the card. (CENAFOD 10 Aug. 2016)

The CENAFOD representative also specified that [translation] "the appearance of the cards differs by colour (blue background, green background with the national flag (red, yellow and green) or creamy yellow background)" (ibid.). Samples of voter cards for the 2010, 2013 and 2015 elections, sent by the CENAFOD representative, are attached to this Response.

3.1 2010 Voter Cards

According to sources, for the 2010 elections, CENI tried to introduce biometric voter cards with the holder's fingerprints and photograph (The Carter Center n.d., 2526; Guinea 26 Mar. 2011, 14-15, 21). Sources note, however, that as a result of problems relating to data collection and the issuing of the biometric cards in round one, CENI decided to issue "alphanumeric cards" in the second round of voting to voters who had been improperly registered (ibid., 21; EU Feb. 2011, 30, 31). According to an observation report on the 2010 elections published by the Carter Center, an American NGO located in Atlanta that works to advance peace and improve health conditions in over 70 countries around the world (The Carter Center n.d., 172), the "alphanumeric cards" indicated only the voter's name and number (ibid., 25-26). A report by the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission for the 2015 elections states that [translation] "Guinea does not use a biometric system for its voter cards" (EU Dec. 2015, 19). Further information on biometric voter cards in Guinea could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.

3.2 2013 Voter Cards

In an article on Guinean voter cards published on her blog, Juralex Africa Comitas Gentium, Hassatou Baldé, a doctor in international law from the Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University and researcher at the Thinking Africa Institute (Thinking Africa n.d.a), [translation] "a research and teaching institution focusing on peace in Africa" (ibid. n.d.b), indicates that, when compared with the 2010 cards, the 2013 cards were [small] "small" and "beige in colour" (Baldé 8 Oct. 2015). Hassatou Baldé reports that the back of these cards, which show a geographic map of Guinea in the background and the coats of arms at the top left, indicates SCRUTINS (ibid.). She adds that 12 rectangular numbered boxes indicate the number of votes and states that [translation] "logically, this card was created for 12 votes" (ibid.).

3.3 2015 Voter Cards

Hassatou Baldé explains that the card for 2015 is green, [translation] "bigger" than those for 2010 and 2013, and includes the following details:

[translation]

Face side, on the top left, the logo of the Commission électorale nationale indépendante (CENI). To the right, the flag and the coats of arms. On the background, a white dove clutching an olive branch in its beak. After the identity information (surname, given name, sex, voting office), on the bottom left is a digital mark similar to a stamp in black and white, and to the right, below the signature of the President of CENI, a type of barcode under which is the voter code number. The back only has four (4) voting boxes. (ibid.)

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Baldé, Hassatou. 8 October 2015. "Guinée : à chaque élection, nouvelle carte électorale?" Juralex Africa Comitas Gentium. [Accessed 26 July 2016]

The Carter Center. N.d. Observer les élections présidentielles de 2010 en Guinée. Rapport final. [Accessed 11 Aug. 2016]

Centre africain de formation pour le développement (CENAFOD). 10 August 2016. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

European Union (EU). December 2015. Election Observation Mission. République de Guinée. Élection présidentielle 2015. Rapport final. [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016]

European Union (EU). February 2011. Election Observation Mission. Rapport final. Élection presidentielle 2010. [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016]

Guinea. August 2015. Commission électorale nationale indépendante (CENI). Guide de sensibilisation des électeurs. [Accessed 16 Aug. 2016]

Guinea. 26 March 2011. Ministère de l'Administration du territoire et de la Décentralisation (MATD), Commission électorale nationale indépendante (CENI). Élection présidentielle 2010. Rapport de synthèse. [Accessed 16 Aug. 2016]

Guinea. 1992 (amended 2010). Loi organique n° 91/012/CTRN portant Code électoral modifié par les lois organiques n° L93/038/CTRN du 20/08/1993 et L/95/011CTRN du 12 05 1995 L/2010/-----/CNT du 22 avril 2010. [Accessed 26 July 2016]

Guinée7. 14 August 2015. Mohamed Koula Diallo. "Le Regard citoyen sur les prochaines élections." [Accessed 29 July 2016]

Mosaïque Guinée. [2015]. Alassane Fofana. "Une plate-forme citoyenne d'observation électorale voit le jour en Guinée." [Accessed 16 Aug. 2016]

Mosaïque Guinée.N.d.b. "Qui nous sommes." [Accessed 15 Aug. 2016]

Thinking Africa. N.d.a. "Hassatou Baldé." [Accessed 15 Aug. 2016]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Association des jeunes guinéens de Montréal; Conseil national des organisations de la société civile guinéenne; Conseil national des organisations de la société civile pour la démocratie et le développement de la Guinée; Conseil régional des organisations de la société civile de Conakry; Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa; Guinea - Embassy in Ottawa, Commission électorale nationale indépendante; International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Guinea; International Organization for Migration, Conakry; researcher, Thinking Africa; United Nations - Development Programme, Guinea; Working Group on Women, Peace and Security in West Africa.

Internet sites, including: Aujourd'hui en Guinée; ecoi.net; Edison TD; Élections Guinée; European Union - Public Register of Authentic Travel and Identity Documents Online; Factiva; Guinea - Embassies in Geneva, Paris, Washington; Guinée28.info; Guinée Actu; Guinée Press Info; International Crisis Group; International Organization of la Francophonie; Jeune Afrique; Kessing Document Checker; National Democratic Institute; Radio Top Africa; Réseau des compétences électorales francophones; Safran; Search for Common Ground; UN - Refworld; US - Department of State.

Attachment

Guinea. N.d. Voter card samples for 2010, 2013 and 2015. Sent to the Research Directorate by a representative of the Centre africain de formation pour le développement (CENAFOD), 15 August. 2016.