Introduction
This case study concerns the first post-war elections in Iraq, held on 30 January 2005. The figures in this paper are based on budget estimates and on partial expenditure reports collected during the implementation of the 30 January 2005 elections. As of the time of the final revisions to the study (March 2006), final expenditure figures are not yet available, both because the IECI has remained busy with a referendum and general election in 2005 and so has not completed its 2005 audits and because so many agencies contributed to the 2005 costs. The budget estimates are, however, reasonably accurate estimates of the incurred costs.
I. Background on the electoral process
The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (Transitional Administrative Law, TAL) called for five elections during the transitional period (defined as beginning with the formation of a fully sovereign Iraqi Interim Government on 28 June 2004 and ending with the formation of an elected government under the terms of a permanent constitution, as of the final revisions to this paper, the assembly elected on 15 December 2005 has not yet formed a government). All of the required elections were held according to the schedule set in the TAL, which was in itself a notable achievement:
Elections to a Transitional National Assembly, Kurdistan National Assembly were held on 30 January 2005;
A referendum on a constitution drafted by the Transitional National Assembly was held on 15 October 2005; and
A general election under the new constitution was held on 15 December 2005.
Through a consultative process facilitated by the United Nations, Iraqi political leaders decided to empower an independent electoral management body to conduct the elections during the transitional period. The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) was created by Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Order no. 92, which describes the IECI as the “exclusive electoral authority throughout Iraq during the Transitional Period.
II. Structure of the EMB
The IECI is an “independent and autonomous, non-partisan, neutral and professional government office” empowered “to organize, oversee, conduct, and implement all elections set forth in the TAL.” (CPA 92) The IECI has two major components: the Board of Commissioners regulates the electoral process and has ultimate responsibility for the planning and implementation of the elections; the Electoral Administration, headed by the Chief Electoral Officer (also a non-voting member of the Board), is responsible for carrying out the electoral process. The members of the Board of Commissioners were selected in June 2004 after an extensive process of public nominations; a panel of respected international election officials appointed by the United Nations (UN) proposed a slate of commissioners to the then-Governing Council, which accepted the panel’s recommendations.
The Electoral Administration is divided into a National Electoral Office, 18 Governorate Electoral Offices, and 542 District Electoral Offices/Voter Registration Centres. In addition, there is a Kurdistan Regional Office and two sub-governorate offices in Baghdad, the largest governorate. Each District Electoral Office is responsible for, on average, 10 polling centres with up to 3,000 voters each.
The national office has divisions for Finance, Administration, Public Outreach (including services for electoral contestants and observers), Capacity Building, and Operations. In addition, a small planning and reporting cell assists the Chief Electoral Officer. After the first elections on 30 January 2005, legal and audit units were established in the national office reporting directly to the Board of Commissioners.
The national office has a staff of approximately 220 persons, the governorates a staff of 22 each, and the districts a staff of 10 each; most of these positions have been filled. In the governorates of al-Anbar and Ninewah, the security situation has precluded the regular operation of the District Electoral Offices/Voter Registration Centres.
III. Legal framework
CPA Order no. 92 grants the IECI broad authority over its finances:
The Iraqi government shall ensure that the Commission receives all of the resources necessary for administering elections throughout the Transitional Period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Commission may seek to enlist the international community for appropriate assistance in this regard, including the direct provision of additional funds or resources. All Commission resources shall be solely managed and obligated by the Commission. The CEO shall be responsible for the accounting of these resources.
The IECI presented a budget for the 30 January 2005 elections to the Interim Government’s Ministry of Finance in September 2004. While the budget did include some approximate costs for FY2005 to aid the government’s financial planning, these figures were of course very general given the uncertainty surrounding the election calendar for 2005. The 30 January 2005 budget also contained several important unknowns which, in the end, proved to be substantial cost. One of these was secure logistics – the delivery and retrieval of 3.3 million kilograms of election material to more than 5,000 polling centres in the midst of severe ongoing conflict. These costs were eventually borne by UNOPS. In addition, the original budget did not provide for out-of-country voting. The IECI decided to conduct out-of-country voting in October, and contracted the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as its implementing partner. The costs for this operation (US$92 million, of which some portion was unspent and returned) were provided by the Government of Iraq.
The IECI operates under the procurement, human resources, and accounting rules of the Government of Iraq.
IV. Electoral costs
a) Establishment of the IECI
As a new institution, the IECI required facilities, office furniture and equipment, communications and information technology, and other capital investments. These costs amounted to approximately $28 million, of which approximately $12.5 million was provided by the United Nations for office furniture and equipment and communications and information technology and $3.5 million was provided from Iraqi budget funds by the CPA for the renovation of a headquarters facility.
b) Voter registration
The voter register for the 30 January 2005 elections was based on the existing Public Distribution System (PDS) database, used by the Ministry of Trade to manage a monthly rations program. To be used as a voter register, the database required a substantial period for corrections and additions. The costs of this period amount to approximately $83 million. These costs were mainly for staff, printing, data entry, and secure logistics. The bulk of these costs was borne by the IECI through Iraqi budget funds, but the UN funded the data entry project, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded printing of registration forms, procurement of other registration material, and public information.
c) Polling
Polling costs were approximately $180 million. The largest line items were for polling staff, material procurement (including polling kits, ballots, and voters lists), and secure logistics. Again, the majority of costs were funded by the Iraqi budget, but the UN funded a large section of the secure logistics costs (approximately $50 million) by contracting with a global logistics firm, which in turn, sub-contracted with security firms working in Iraq. USAID made several donations in kind, as did the Governments of Denmark and the Peoples’ Republic of China. Other support has been provided by the Italian and Japanese governments for training of the election staff.
d) External voting
The IECI concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the implementation of an external registration and voting program in 14 countries. This program was implemented on very rigorous timelines, and the Memorandum allowed for costs as high as $92 million. This total was reached by estimating up to $50 per potential voter, based on recent external voting projects. In addition, $3 million was budgeted for each country in security costs based on IECI experience with an external data entry centre. IOM returned $20 to the IECI, so the final cost of the external registration and voting operation was $72.
e) International assistance
The IECI received international technical assistance under the leadership of the UN. In addition to the UN, IFES, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the European Commission provided staff to the international assistance team.
f) Security costs
The security environment in Iraq imposed a number of security costs. These included personal protection for the Board of Commissioners and international technical advisors, but also markedly higher than normal costs for the storage and transportation of election materials, which required a reliance on air movements and private security contractors. In addition, a number of projects, including data entry, took place abroad and at higher cost due to domestic security concerns.
g) Support from the Iraqi government
In addition to direct budget support, the Iraqi government provided office and warehouse space, especially through the Ministry of Trade, and support from the security services. The Ministry of Education provided most of the polling locations.
About the author
Jarrett Blanc has been the Chief-of-Party for IFES’ Center for Transitional and Post-Conflict Governance in Iraq and in the Palestinian Authority. He advised the CPA and the Iraqi Governing Council on the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq and on the establishment of the electoral calendar and legal framework. He was a senior advisor to the IECI in the planning and implementation of the 30 January 2005 elections. In the Palestinian Authority, he advised the Central Elections Commission, Palestinian Legislative Council, and diplomatic community and coordinated IFES’ technical assistance program. Blanc also has field experience in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Lebanon, and Nepal.
