By Bouli Hadjioannou
A MOVE to scrap limits on how much candidates can spend campaigning ran into trouble in the House Interior Committee yesterday, with deputies expressing concern it would only give the rich an unfair advantage.
There were doubts also on whether plans to replace the current single ballot paper with one for each party could compromise voters’ right to a secret vote.
Both proposals are part of a package submitted by the Interior Ministry’s election service in a bid to modernise the law and simplify electoral procedures.
They include suggestions to reduce voting hours, carry out the count on the spot and abolish provisions allowing the chief returning officer to ban the sale of alcohol in the run-up to general elections. The latter only confuses the public, since the ban has not been imposed for five years with no adverse results.
On the presidential elections, candidates must register 20 and not the current 10 days before the vote (deputies suggested this be extended to one month).
And presidential candidates who withdraw before the vote would lose their £1,000 deposit – a move officials said aimed to deter fringe elements from running just to exploit the publicity.
Procedures will also be changed to smooth out difficulties in the count of preference votes for deputies. All preference crosses will be verified by returning officials while in the event that two candidates from the same party poll an equal number of votes, the seat will be decided by draw.
George Theodorou of the ministry’s election service said many of the proposals were technical aiming to resolve problems encountered in the past.
But two key provisions are likely to prove a stumbling block.
There was considerable debate over the ministry’s proposal to scrap the current £300 limit a parliamentary candidate can spend on his election campaign.
Deputies acknowledged £300 was too little, but said scrapping the limit altogether would give the rich an unfair edge over others.
United Democrats deputy Androulla Vassiliou said that the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) had recently proposed tough regulations on campaign spending. “The IPU wants controls and we are suggesting abolishing them?” she queried.
There was debate on how a ceiling could be enforced. Deputies noted most countries had some kind of limit, while some insisted that candidates publicise what they spent.
Edek’s Doros Theodorou proposed an increase in the ceiling, stipulations on how the money was spent and follow-up action to ensure compliance. There were calls from independent deputy Marios Matsakis that campaign spending limits also be slapped on parties.
The proposal to introduce separate ballots papers for each party or electoral alliance proved equally controversial, with deputies concerned this could undermine secrecy.
Theodorou, who heads the election service, said the proposal made technical sense – it would make the count easier and eliminate disputed ballots. “The only ballots that will be void will be those voters want to spoil. It will not be a mistake,” he said.
It was also dictated by necessity – there is no room left on the ballot papers for new parties or coalitions, and authorities cannot find larger paper elsewhere.
But there was scepticism from deputies that the system may not be foolproof. Fears were expressed that a voter may slip more than one ballot in the ballot box, or that officials and party representatives present in the room could spot how he voted. And what would happen to all the wasted ballots?
Other deputies and Theodorou countered that the system was used in many countries, including Greece, with no problems.
