The second level of performance accountability is external accountability, for example requirements that the EMB report to the legislature or executive branch of government. External performance accountability assists transparency in EMB operations, and hence confidence in electoral processes, by requiring the EMB to report regularly and publicly on its activities.

The nature of this accountability mechanism is a product of a country’s legal and administrative tradition, and the model of EMB. Some countries provide for EMBs to prepare reports (both performance and audited financial reports) on an annual basis, while some have limited accountability requirements. EMBs in countries such as Cambodia, Ghana, Georgia, Lesotho, Namibia, and Russia submit their reports directly to the legislature. Countries which submit reports to the president include Fiji and Zambia. In the case of Zambia, the president is required to table the EMB’s report to the legislature within seven days after receipt of the report from the EMB.

• In Senegal, both the election monitoring component and the election management component of the Mixed Model EMB have limited accountability requirements: the monitoring component reports on each election process to the president, while the management component reports to the Ministry of the Interior.
• Some countries provide for EMBs to prepare performance and audited financial reports on an annual basis, as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia.
• The South African EMB is subject to a rigorous series of accountability mechanisms. Electoral law requires the EMB to submit activity reports (including audited financial statements) to the legislature, both on an annual basis and following major electoral events. The EMB is also required to prepare publicly available readiness reports on forthcoming electoral events. The president may also request the EMB to submit written reports to him/her on specific electoral matters.
• In the USA, local authority EMBs are accountable to their communities, state officials, and the courts.
• In countries such as Costa Rica, Nigeria, Uruguay, and Yemen, EMBs have no formal performance accountability requirements. In Costa Rica and Nigeria, there are legislative committees on electoral matters which could serve as an oversight mechanism on the EMB’s activities. Uruguay’s EMB is financially accountable through external audit of its financial statements, but is not otherwise accountable.
• In Palestine, while there is no legal requirement for the EMB to account to any branch of government, the EMB has published reports after major electoral events which are simultaneously circulated to the executive branch of government, the legislature, political parties, and the general public.

It is a common practice for EMB performance reports to be both descriptive and analytical, highlighting challenges to the EMB’s operations, including funding issues and improvements to the electoral legal framework that would enhance the EMB’s effectiveness. Since these reports go to the legislature and may influence government decision-making, it is important that the EMB make an effort to ensure that its annual or post-election reports are as comprehensive and clear as possible, to capture the attention and interest of lawmakers, especially on issues of funding and improving the electoral framework.

EMB reports may also be proactively circulated to other stake¬holders, such as political parties, government ministries, donors, civil society organisations, universities and educational institutes, the business community, and interested members of the public. Reports can be made widely accessible through cost effective methods such as low-cost printing/copying or publication by CD-ROM or on the EMB’s web site.

An EMB also may also consider despatching copies of its annual reports and related publications to regional and international organisations with interests in electoral assistance, such as the United Nations, OSCE, African Union, OAS, etc. Such information may help to promote international awareness about the EMB’s country, including the challenges it faces and the assistance it may require in the area of elections and democracy.

The EMB may also promote public performance accountability by regularly consulting its stakeholders, especially political parties. These consultations not only promote awareness about the EMB’s operations, but also allow stakeholders to directly advise the EMB of their assessments of its performance in general or on specific issues, and suggest potential improvements. Genuine and open dialogues can contribute to confidence among stakeholders in the electoral process and specifically their trust in the EMB’s independence, transparency, and ability to take advice. These consultations could be regular or event-driven, formal or informal.

In South Africa, the law makes it mandatory for the EMB to set up political party liaison committees at all levels of government, from national to local level. Arrangements such as those in Mexico, where electoral law provides that political parties and legislative blocs have non-voting membership of the EMB, serve a similar purpose. Several other countries have consultative structures even though they are not legally required.