Second Annual Report of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) 2014 - Kingdom of Bahrain 11. In order to ensure the full enjoyment of the right to nomination and election, it is necessary to enable people to exchange information and opinions related to the electoral process freely through free press and other media that is able to comment and to inform the public opinion on the course of this process with full transparency. This right is related to the need for the State to take all necessary measures to ensure the enjoyment of other relevant human rights, such as the right to peaceful assembly, holding peaceful public meetings and the right to association, which are the fundamental pillars for the effective exercise of the right to nomination and election. 12. The State should establish an independent body to oversee and ensure the integrity and course of the electoral process in accordance with the provisions of the law. In particular, this body should be in charge of ensuring the secrecy of the ballot during the electoral process and protecting voters from various forms of temptation or coercion that drives them to reveal their electoral orientation. This body should also ensure the safety of the ballot boxes and that the votes are counted in the presence of the candidates or their agents. The decisions taken by that body in respect of the electoral process should be subject to judicial control to ensure the confidence of the voters and the public in the outcomes of this process. 13. In terms of the actual practice of the right to nomination and election, and in order to complement the reformist approach led by His Majesty the King at the beginning of the millennium, which commenced with the adoption of the National Action Charter in 2001, reinstating the parliamentary life, and conducting the parliamentary and municipal elections for the first time in 2002, followed by holding the elections in 2006, which was complemented in 2010, in 2014, the parliamentary and municipal elections were held. Voters were invited to exercise their constitutional right to vote and nominate in the elections that took place on November 22, 2014. The second round of elections was held on November 29, 2014. The elections culminated in composing the House of Representatives and the three municipal councils distributed to the provinces of the Kingdom. 14. Pursuant to the provisions of the Decree-Law No. 14 of 2002 on the Exercise of Political Rights, as amended, and Decree-Law No. 3 of 2002 on the Election of Members of Municipal Councils, as amended, a committee known as the “Higher Committee to Oversee the Integrity of Election and Referendum” will be composed. The Committee will be headed by the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf and will have sufficient members of judges and consultants. The Committee will prepare the lists of voters, receive nomination applications, examine and prepare lists of candidates, and consider the requests and objections relating to any action or decision issued by the Committee. In general, the Committee has the mandate to supervise the safety of the referendum or election of members of the House of Representatives and municipal councils. 15. According to the officially announced figures and statistics, the total number of candidates for membership of the House of Representatives in the parliamentary elections of 2014 was 266 distributed to the four provinces of the Kingdom. The candidates competed for 40 seats in the House of Representatives. Under the Law84, ten seats are allocated to the Capital, eight seats to Muharraq, twelve seats to the Northern District, and ten seats to the the Southern District. The total number of candidates for the election of the three municipal councils was 135. The Law85 allocates eight seats to Muharraq Governorate, twelve seats to the Northern Governorate, and ten seats to the Southern Governorate. 84 Article 2 of Decree No. 71 of 2014 on the Identification of Electoral Areas, Constituencies, and Boundaries and Sub-Committees for the Election of the House of Representatives. 85 Article 2 of Resolution No. 35 of 2014 on the Identification of Electoral Areas, Constituencies, and Boundaries and Sub-Committees for the Election of the Municipal Councils. 74