Contents Introduction ............................................................................................... 4 The legal framework and regulatory procedures undertaken by the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR) to monitor the electoral process ............ 4 CHAPTER I: Monitoring the parliamentary and municipal electoral process in the period preceding the start of voting .................................................... 23 Section I: The Stage of Call for Elections and Nominations ........................ 23 Section II: The Stage of Registration in Voter Lists and Objections ............ 32 Section III: The Stage of Receiving Nomination Applications, Objections to them, and the Submission of Judicial Appeals ............................................. 41 Section IV: The Stage of Electoral Campaign and the Electoral Silence ...... 53 CHAPTER II: Observing the Parliamentary and Municipal Elections on Polling Day .......................................................................................................... 61 Section I: The stage before the commencement of polling ........................ 61 Section II: The polling stage ......................................................................... 68 Section III: The stage of sorting, counting, and announcing election results ........................................................................................................... 79 2