Monitoring of the entire electoral
process is one of the integrity safeguards that help
protect the viability and honesty of election administration, as well as fair participation
by election participants.
Monitoring promotes compliance
with the legal framework and helps deter questionable activities. Public
reporting by monitors increases transparency and helps ensure election
officers’ accountability.
Monitoring includes official
oversight by a government auditor or agency, as well as observation of the
process by political parties, the media and individual electors, as well as national
NGOs and international groups.
Monitoring may be partisan
(conducted by political parties) or non-partisan (conducted by accredited national
or international observers). Partisan monitoring focuses on protecting the
interests of a particular candidate or party. For this reason, it is important
to have participation by monitors from different political parties active throughout
the process.
Non-partisan monitoring is
expected to be impartial and objective. Since reporting on elections usually
involves forming an opinion about the quality of the process, integrity in monitoring
is itself important. Integrity issues related to monitoring are discussed in
this section.
To be effective, monitoring
should cover the entire electoral process, not just some aspects such as voter
registration or polling. Among other things, monitors must examine:
- the scope and
effectiveness of the legal framework;
- the appropriateness of
electoral procedures and preparations, including training of election
staff;
- delimitation of electoral districts;
- elector registration;
- information and education programs;
- registration of political
parties and candidates;
- freedom of association, assembly
and movement;
- freedom from fear and
intimidation;
- freedom of expression and
equal access to the media;
- use of public resources
for campaign purposes;
- activities on election day;
- vote counting and consolidation
of results; and
- the adequacy of
procedures for lodging complaints about election conduct and results, and
procedures for resolving them.[1]
Declaration of Global Principles for Non-Partisan Election Observation and
Monitoring by Citizen Organizations
An important milestone in the
progress of independent election monitoring and observation was development of
the Declaration of Global Principles
for Non-Partisan Election Observation And Monitoring by Citizen Organizations and
Code of Conduct for Non-Partisan Citizen Election Observers and Monitors, initiated by the Global
Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM).
Conclusion of the Declaration and Code of Conduct was commemorated at
the UN during 2012, by which time scores of citizen networks, international
supporters and NGOs had endorsed the document.[2]
[1] Boneo, Horacio, “Observation of Elections,” in Rose,
Richard, ed., International Encyclopedia
of Elections, Washington,
D.C.: Congressional Quarterly
Press, 2000, pp. 197-98
[2] Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors
(GNDEM), initiators, Declaration of Global Principles for Non-Partisan
Election Observation And Monitoring by Citizen Organizations and Code of
Conduct for Non-Partisan Citizen Election Observers and Monitors, 21 pp., commemorated
at the UN, 3 April 2012
