The electoral management body is responsible for administering elections. It must honestly and impartially implement the procedures specified in the legal framework. This involves dealing with technical issues and making decisions. In some cases, it must also draft electoral regulations, and it usually develops procedures for voter and candidate registration, voting, and vote counting.

To fulfill its primary role of holding free, fair and reliable elections, an electoral management body must carry out the following tasks.

Administer the process in accordance with the law

Electoral administrators are supposed to administer the process impartially and according to the legal requirements. Laws are designed to protect citizens’ rights and the basic principles of a free and fair election, as well as to limit the discretionary power of administrators. The laws must be upheld and the election body must be accountable for following them. If there is a problem with the law, the electoral management body must bring it to the attention of the proper authorities for correction rather than selectively implementing the law, which can lead to serious integrity problems. For example, in the 1998 election in Cambodia, [1] the country’s electoral management body did not comply with all legal provisions, thereby undermining many of the safeguards that had been built into the law (e.g. the complaints procedure).

Maintain a professional, neutral and transparent administration

Professional and transparent administration of the process is essential for free and fair elections. Decision making and operations should be as accurate and transparent as possible. The electoral management body must also be perceived as neutral; otherwise, it will have no credibility. To avoid the perception of favouring a particular outcome, the administration must be transparent and must provide as much information as possible in a timely fashion to political parties, the media and the public.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance has developed a model code of conduct for electoral administrators [2] to help them maintain election integrity.

Adopt procedures to protect the integrity of its operations

The internal management and operational procedures adopted by the electoral management body have a significant impact on the integrity of the process. The procedures must be written down and systematically made available to the public. The procedures usually cover every aspect of electoral administration, including election management, internal management, recruitment and supervision, and operating procedures, including rules for procurement. For a more detailed discussion of mechanisms to protect integrity at every stage of administering an election, see Integrity in Election Administration.

Identify and assess integrity risks, and take corrective action where necessary

Internal management and operational procedures should have mechanisms for identifying integrity risks, assessing the risks involved, and ensuring that the proper persons or oversight agencies are contacted and corrective action is taken at once. The electoral management body needs to ensure it also has a mechanism for receiving and dealing with complaints made by political parties, observers or oversight agencies. This is an important factor contributing to the integrity of the system and promoting accountability on the part of administrators and participants.

Promote voter awareness of electoral integrity issues

As far as possible, the electoral management body should provide information to citizens about the electoral system, the mechanisms safeguarding its integrity and the need for citizens to take an active role in the protection of their electoral process. Information may be distributed through press briefings, voter education programs and civic education programs in schools.

NOTES

[1] Neou, Kassie and Gallup, Jeffrey C., “Conducting Cambodia’s Elections,” Journal of Democracy, 10(2), 1999, p. 152.

[2] International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Code of Conduct for the Ethical and Professional Administration of Elections, 1997.