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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 001691 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM BA POL REFORM OFFICIALS
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF STATE FOR CABINET AFFAIRS EXPLAINS 
ELECTION PREPARATIONS 
 
REF: MANAMA 1625 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) The Ambassador September 19 met with Minister of 
State for Cabinet Affairs Shaikh Ahmed bin Attiyatallah, who 
is responsible for carrying out many aspects of the upcoming 
parliamentary and municipal elections.  Shaikh Ahmed said 
King Hamad would soon officially announce the dates of the 
two rounds of the elections, but he expected them to take 
place in late November and early December.  The government 
will allow Internet e-voting for Bahraini citizens living 
outside the country, and inside Bahrain voters at some 
polling stations can choose between using traditional manual 
ballots or touch screen machines that produce a printed 
receipt.  He stated that 100 civil society representatives 
would be issued passes to monitor elections at any of the 50 
polling centers.  Candidates and their staff as well as local 
and international media will be able to enter the centers, 
and webcams installed at the centers will broadcast directly 
onto the Internet.  Shaikh Ahmed said the GOB would continue 
to work with the media to get its message out, but 
politicians were criticizing the government for political 
reasons.  Separately, civil society representatives most 
concerned with election monitoring and transparency told 
EmbOffs they know nothing about the government's plans to 
enhance the elections' credibility.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) The Ambassador September 19 met with Shaikh Ahmed bin 
Attiyatallah Al Khalifa, who serves as Minister of State for 
Cabinet Affairs, President of the Central Informatics 
Organization, and head of the Civil Service Bureau, and who 
has responsibility for implementing many aspects of the 
upcoming parliamentary and municipal elections.  Shaikh Ahmed 
is also identified in a recently leaked report drafted by a 
former associate and head of the Gulf Center for Democratic 
Development as the ringleader of a complex conspiracy to 
influence the outcome of the elections (septel).  Despite his 
credentials as a strong supporter of increased use of 
technology and his modern, moderate facade, he (and his 
brother President of the Royal Court Shaikh Mohammed bin 
Attiyatallah Al Khalifa) is widely viewed as a hardline 
defender of royal family power and prerogatives. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Elections Late November/Early December 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Shaikh Ahmed told the Ambassador that the 
parliamentary and municipal elections would be held on the 
same days, with the first round taking place at the end of 
November and the second round (between the two highest 
vote-getters in the first round) one week later in the 
beginning of December.  He would not give the specific dates, 
saying that King Hamad would do so by the end of September or 
beginning of October, but noted that the dates could be 
determined by examining information in the voter rolls (which 
were released for public review September 21).  A voter must 
be at least 20 years and one day of age to vote, he 
explained, and the voter rolls would not include anyone 
younger than this specific age.  (Note:  Newspapers report 
September 21 that total registered voters in Bahrain number 
295,662, of them 148,344 are men while 147,318 are women.) 
 
¶4.  (C) Shaikh Ahmed said citizens had one week following the 
publication of the lists to register objections, with an 
additional three days for judges to rule on objections.  The 
lists will be posted in central locations in each of the 
governorates and on a secure website, and a hotline will be 
available to answer any questions.  The King will officially 
announce the election dates immediately after this 10-day 
period.  Shaikh Ahmed noted that a few thousand citizens were 
removed from the voter lists because they are convicted drug 
addicts or criminals.  None of those ineligible to vote were 
convicted of political crimes.  In response to the 
Ambassador's question, Shaikh Ahmed said the 50 municipal 
constituencies that were created for the 2002 elections would 
decline to 40 to match the 2002 parliamentary constituencies, 
allowing both elections to be held on the same day. 
 
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E-Voting Plan 
------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The Ambassador asked about the status of Bahrain's 
controversial plan to allow e-voting for the elections. 
 
MANAMA 00001691  002 OF 003 
 
 
Shaikh Ahmed said officials had met with representatives of 
all political societies to explain the government's plan to 
use e-voting.  Although none objected during the meeting, 
some societies later criticized the plan in the newspapers in 
spite of the government's attempts to work with them on 
implementation.  Shaikh Ahmed said that voters outside 
Bahrain who could not easily go to Bahraini Embassies, and 
who had pre-registered and received smart cards, would be 
able to vote through the Internet.  The number of citizens 
able to vote through the Internet was capped at one percent 
of total votes cast outside the country. 
 
¶6.  (C) Inside Bahrain, there will be no Internet voting, 
Shaikh Ahmed said.  Computer-based voting, however, would be 
offered at the ten "common" election centers to be 
established at high-traffic areas such as the Seef mall, 
airport, Bapco (petroleum company), Alba (aluminum plant), 
and exhibition center.  Voters would be offered the choice of 
using a touch screen or conventional manual voting.  In using 
the touch screen, voters would receive a paper receipt after 
making their selection, which they then must insert into a 
secure ballot box.  E-voting will not be an option at the 
other 40 polling stations across the country, one in each 
constituency. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Engagement With Political Societies 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) To gain the buy-in of the political societies, Shaikh 
Ahmed said the government had offered to create a joint 
government/political society committee to implement the 
e-voting plan.  The political societies would have the right 
to select the auditing firm that would oversee the process. 
The government had offered to set a limit on the maximum 
percentage of e-votes allowable - one percent, five percent, 
ten percent - in consultation with the societies.  Thus far, 
the political societies had not responded to the government's 
offers. 
 
¶8.  (C) Shaikh Ahmed said the government would use e-voting 
in spite of some public criticisms because Bahrain is a 
pioneer in this area.  Other Gulf states, including the UAE 
and Qatar, are interested in using e-voting and want to learn 
from Bahrain's experience.  After all the efforts to engage 
political societies on e-voting, the government does not want 
to kill the plan just because of some complaints in the 
newspapers, he said. 
 
----------------------------- 
Need For Independent Monitors 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C) The Ambassador asked about the status of allowing 
election monitors to cover the voting, stressing that 
independent monitors enhance the credibility of the 
elections.  Shaikh Ahmed said that judges would be 
responsible for carrying out the elections.  In the 2002 
elections, only two NGOs were allowed to visit polling 
stations as monitors.  (Note:  The Bahrain Human Rights 
Society and Bahrain Transparency Society.)  This year the 
government would distribute 100 passes to NGO representatives 
to monitor the elections.  Minister of Social Development 
Fatima Al Baloushi, he said, had written to all registered 
non-political NGOs to invite them to participate in the 
monitoring, including human rights and transparency groups. 
 
¶10.  (C) Those holding the passes will be able to enter any 
of the polling stations, Shaikh Ahmed said. These 100 cards 
are in addition to the two passes to be given to each 
candidate, one for the candidate and the other for a staffer. 
 Three hundred members of the local media (print and 
broadcast) will also be permitted to enter the voting 
centers, as will international media representatives from 
outlets such as CNN, BBC, Al Jazira, and Al Arabiya. 
Finally, the government will install webcams in each polling 
center for live broadcast on the Internet. 
 
¶11.  (C) Shaikh Ahmed noted that the government was taking 
other steps to make sure the elections go smoothly.  The 
ballot cards would contain anti-counterfeiting features, have 
an imbedded alarm that would sound if the cards were taken 
out of the polling centers, and display a printed serial 
number.  When the polls close, the ballot boxes will be 
opened and the ballots counted in front of the candidates. 
The candidates will sign a statement that the count was done, 
and the statements and the ballots will be sealed with wax 
inside the boxes.  The judges will then transport the boxes, 
along with a police escort, to the Ministry of Justice, where 
they will be received by another judge and stored inside a 
 
MANAMA 00001691  003 OF 003 
 
 
secure room until the end of the period for challenges. 
 
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Public Outreach Lacking 
----------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C) The Ambassador expressed surprise at the extensive 
efforts to allow election monitoring and ensure the integrity 
of the elections, indicating that the government had not done 
a good job of informing the public about its plans.  He 
emphasized that the elections must be free and fair, and must 
be seen to be free and fair.  He recommended the government 
redouble its efforts on outreach, commenting that the word is 
not getting out.  (Note:  Bahrain Transparency Society 
President Jassim Al Ajmi told Pol/Econ Chief September 19 
that he was unaware of any GOB plans to allow election 
monitoring, though he was hopeful monitoring would be 
allowed.  Bahrain Human Rights Society Vice President 
Abdullah Al Derazi told PolOff September 20 that he had heard 
rumors of a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) plan to form 
a committee to "follow up" on the elections, but it was 
unclear what this meant.  He said there had been no direct 
contact from MSD.) 
 
¶13.  (C) Shaikh Ahmed told the Ambassador that the government 
had already held public affairs events on the elections and 
would continue to do so.  It had hired a public relations 
firm to spread the word.  He complained that despite the 
efforts, people did not want to hear the government's 
message.  "We sat with the political societies, and they're 
comfortable with our strategy," he said.  But they are 
playing a political game, and so they go public with their 
criticisms and accusations for political reasons.  Shaikh 
Ahmed rejected the claims of the opposition, saying, "the 
whole world is watching us - we know this, we're not stupid." 
 He pledged that the elections will be totally transparent. 
 
--------------------------- 
No Political Naturalization 
--------------------------- 
 
¶14.  (C) The Ambassador asked about rumors of "political" 
naturalization of Asian residents of Bahrain, which some say 
could influence the election outcome.  Shaikh Ahmed dismissed 
these claims, saying the Interior Minister had stated 
publicly that 5,000 people had been naturalized over the last 
three years, all of whom met the legal criteria (reftel).  If 
opposition groups want to criticize and investigate this 
issue, he said, they should participate in the elections and 
win seats in parliament.  Then they will have the right to 
question government officials about policies with which they 
disagree.  "This is democracy," he said. 
 
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Comment 
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¶15.  (C) If the elections come off as Shaikh Ahmed describes 
- with packs of election monitors and media covering every 
aspect, and redundancies built into the e-voting systems - 
the actual conduct of the elections will go well.  What is 
worrying, however, is that the individuals and organizations 
most concerned with monitoring and transparency know nothing 
about the government's plans in this regard.  With over two 
months left before the elections are expected to be held, 
there is plenty of time for the government to spread the word 
and engage with political actors of all stripes to enhance 
the elections' credibility and transparency.  At this point, 
however, the government appears to be slow off the mark on 
engaging with political and civil societies on the elections. 
 
 
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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
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MONROE