DISCLAIMER: Membership in the Practitioners' Network does not guarantee an offer of employment.  Election professionals participate in Network's activities voluntarily and exclusively on an individual basis, hence they do not represent or express opinions and statements on behalf of any organisation or institution they might be working for.

The ACE Practitioners’ Network is being developed and we are currently preparing for a piloting phase. We plan to initially involve in networking activities a limited number of experienced experts, who have been identified by the ACE Partner organizations.

The Pilot is expected to last for 6 to 9 months, after which – based on lessons learned – participation in the Network will be expanded to a broader number of experts, based on a number of qualifications.

This page lists short biographies of some of the election specialists who are currently contributing to the pre-pilot phase of the Practitioners' Network by answering technical questions submitted through "Ask a Question":

Current members of the Practitioners' Network:

Ayman Ayoub specializes in programmes of development assistance, including electoral, legal and judicial reform. He is a Spanish lawyer of Syrian origin.

For over 14 years, his work has focused primarily on the provision of professional assistance services for democratization processes in transitional and post-conflict countries, in the Middle East, West Africa, East Europe and South-East Asia, for the European Commission, the United Nations and other organizations. He joined IDEA as Senior Programme Officer in October 2005.

Francesca Binda is current the Resident Director for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Egypt, having earlier held similar posts in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) during two tours with the Institute’s Sarajevo office from 2002-2004 and 1999-2000.

Ms. Binda rejoined NDI in October 2005 from the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) where she was senior advisor for political parties.

From 2000 to 2002, she directed the Elections/Implementation Department for the OSCE Mission to BiH where she oversaw the fulfilment of the 2000 election results and the successful transfer of election administration from international control to BiH authorities. A Canadian political professional, Ms. Binda’s international experience includes consulting with political parties and parliamentarians in a variety of countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Before moving to Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1996, Ms. Binda spent 11 years in Ottawa, Canada working for the New Democratic Party in the Canadian House of Commons. Ms. Binda holds a degree in Political Science from Carleton University and is a recipient of the Canada Peacekeeping Medal.

Horacio Boneo is a Senior Fellow during 1994 at the United States Institute of Peace - has been involved in electoral assistance and observation in more than sixty countries.

Between 1988 and 1999 he was Deputy Chief of Mission for the UN Electoral Observation Missions in Nicaragua - the first time the UN observed and election in a member state - Haiti and El Salvador, Director of the Electoral Assistance Division of the United Nations, Director of Programs at International IDEA and Interregional Adviser in Democratic Governance at the UN Secretariat. 

Since 2000, he has served as a consultant on issues of democratic governance and elections for the UN, the UNDP, the Swedish International Development Agency, the National Democratic Institute, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He has written several books and articles on electoral matters, regional development, the role of the state, and public enterprises in Latin America. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. 

Dr. Nadja Braun works as a legal advisor and project manager of the Swiss e-voting project in the Section of Political Rights at the Federal Chancellery (the Swiss electoral management body).

She studied at the universities of Berne and Helsinki and completed her Doctorate on ballot secrecy in 2005. Her interests and work revolve around direct democracy, e-voting, electoral systems, constitutional law and human rights.

Her professional affiliations include: Council of Europe, international IDEA and IRI-Europe. Recent and upcoming publications:

• Contributions to the upcoming international IDEA handbook on External Voting
• Kaufmann, Bruno/Büchi, Rolf/Braun, Nadja: Guidebook to Direct Democracy in Switzerland and Beyond, Marburg 2007
• Braun, Nadja: Stimmgeheimnis, (Reihe: Abhandlungen zum schweizerischen Recht, 708) Diss. Bern 2005
• Braun, Nadja/Brändli, Daniel: E-voting: Swiss E-Voting Pilot Projects: Evaluation Analysis and How to Proceed, in: Krimmer, Robert (ed.): Electronic Voting 2006, Bonn 2006, p. 27-36
• Braun, Nadja: E-Voting: Switzerland's Projects and their Legal Framework - in a European Context, in: Prosser, Alexander/Krimmer, Robert (ed.): Electronic Voting in Europe: Technology, Law, Politics and Society, Bonn 2004, p. 43-52
  

Staffan Darnolf currently works as IFES’ Country Director in Pakistan. Darnolf previously worked as IFES’ chief of party in Nepal and spent two years in Afghanistan working as a senor advisor to the Interim Afghan Electoral Commission and as an international election commissioner seconded by IFES to the Joint Electoral Management Body. In addition, he served as an election adviser on IFES projects in Iraq and Sierra Leone.

Darnolf has worked as an election specialist with the European Commission in Nigeria and Pakistan, with the United Nations and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Kosovo and projects in Europe and Africa financed by the Swedish International Development Authority. In the course of his career, Darnolf has conducted election observation and electoral needs assessment missions in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Latvia, Serbia, Timor Leste, Pakistan, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Darnolf holds a doctorate in political science and a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Göteborg University in Sweden. Darnolf has authored and co-authored a wide range of articles and books on election administration, including Voter Registration and Election Costs in Afghanistan: The First Post-Taliban Presidential Poll (2005) and Twenty Years of Independence in Zimbabwe (2003) and Democratic Electioneering in Southern Africa: The Contrasting Cases of Botswana and Zimbabwe (1997).

Ron Gould CM retired from Elections Canada after 20 years service. Since 1984, when he was a member of the OAS and Canadian monitoring missions in El Salvador, he has participated in more than 100  election assistance missions in over 60 countries.

Gould is considered one of the leading world experts on the organization and management of elections. Among his assignments, Gould was a member of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa in 1994; he was the leader of the UN planning mission to Eastern Slavonia in 1996; the head of the OSCE Elections Missions in Bosnia in 1995 and 1996; the head of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Haiti in 1995; director of UN Electoral Observation Mission in Mozambique in 1994; head of the UN election design mission in Cambodia 1991; member of the election observation teams in Guatemala and Honduras in 1985 and 1990; a member of the UN electoral assessment team in Algeria in 1997; and participated in OSCE missions in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in 1998-99, and Northern Ireland, Spain and the USA in 2004; and the UK in 2005; with IFES in Kosovo in 1999-2004. Gould has been an advisor to the Cambodian Government (1996), to the Supreme Electoral Committee of Yemen (1996), for local elections in the West Bank (1996), and an observer of the Palestine elections in 2005 and 2006; to the Russian Election Commission (1995). 

He was a member of the Carter Center advisory  and observation teams in Venezuela in 2000& 2004; in Nigeria in 2002 and 2003,  in Jamaica in 1997, 2002  and 2003 and Ethiopia in 2005.  He was also a consultant to and observer for the Commonwealth Secretariat in Kenya  in 1992, and in Zanzibar and Nigeria in 2003; and the UN in Sierra Leone, and Namibia in 2004.

Mr. Gould joined the Public Service of Canada in 1955 and has worked for a variety of departments and agencies including Northern Affairs, the Public Service Commission, the Department of Transport, the Treasury Board and Secretary of State where he was Registrar of Canadian Citizenship. He also spent several years in Quebec City as Deputy Director of Parks and Tourism.  From 1981, he was the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer for Elections Canada.  In 1997, he joined the Stockholm based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) on a half-time basis.

He has been President of the Council of Governmental Ethics Laws, of the Royal Canadian Navy Curling Club and of the Ottawa-Chapter of the Public Personnel Association. As well as being made a member of the Order of Canada he received the Outstanding Service Award from the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws; the Medal of Honor from the United Nations Association of Canada; the Canadian Peacekeeping Medal; the Queen’s Jubilee Medal; and the 10 Years of Democracy in South Africa award. Gould published one book entitled "A Guide for Election Observers" and he was one of the three authors of "Strengthening Democracy: A Parliamentary Perspective", which was published in 1995.  He graduated from Toronto University, and has undertaken specific studies at Laval University, Carleton University, McGill University, Queen's University and at the Public Service Commission in Canada.

Jerome Leyraud, a technical cooperation specialist and electoral practitioner, with extensive experience in programme formulation and project management in post conflict environment, has been working over the past 18 years with international organizations in the Balkans, Middle East, Central America, West Africa, and Central and Southern Asia.

With an expertise ranging from humanitarian assistance to institutional and capacity development and public reform, he developed a thorough knowledge of international cooperation issues with specific emphasis on democratization and peace building.

Over the last decade, he specialized in electoral assistance, in particular providing operational and technical support to large scale international-driven operations. After working in Bosnia-Herzegovina and East Timor, he actively participated to the electoral exercise in war-torn Afghanistan (2003-2004) managing a USD 184 million project. He was then called as Chief Technical Adviser to the Democratic Republic of Congo (2005) to launch the voter registration and oversee a USD 270 million basket fund.  Mr. Leyraud is now providing freelance consultancies.

He is graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Third Cycle-DEA, 1992) and the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies (MA, 1986).

Michael Maley is Director of International Services at the Australian Electoral Commission, and has been a full-time electoral administrator for more than 20 years.

He served 1989 as a consultant to the Electoral Division of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group in Namibia; in 1992-93 as Senior Deputy Chief Electoral Officer of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (in which capacity he was the senior Australian civilian in the mission); and in 1994 as Deputy Director of the Electoral Division of the United Nations Observer Mission in South Africa.

He has also taken part in UN survey missions in Western Sahara and Eastern Slavonia, has served as an adviser at UN Headquarters, and has been a consultant to International IDEA, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and IFES. In 2001 he spent four months with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, where he was one of three international Commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission which organised the election held on 30 August 2001. 

He has lectured and published extensively on issues relating to elections and peacekeeping, and was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2001 Australia Day honours list for his work in the area.

Michael Meadowcroft has led, or been a member of, forty-six missions to thirty different countries, assisting in the transition to multi-party democracy, and its subsequent enhancement.

These missions have ranged from supervising civic education, to training election officials, and to preparing a new constitution, via parliamentary practice, co-ordinating voter registration, local government development, enhancing civil society, assisting emergent political parties, reporting on local electoral requirements, and election monitoring.

He has coordinated UN and EU Technical Electoral Assistance missions, OSCE and EU international observer missions. Missions include Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cambodia, The Gambia, Georgia, Guinea-Conakry, Hong Kong, Iraqi Kurdistan, Lithuania, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Michael is a former British Member of Parliament and had over forty years experience of Liberal party political organisation at all levels. He has been an election agent, national party officer, Local Government Officer at Party Headquarters' staff, full-time regional party secretary, City and County Councillor, and party president.

Michael holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Bradford. He speaks French. 

Tim Meisburger is a democracy and elections specialist with over 18 years of international development experience in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, and over 14 years on electoral support projects in emerging democracies and post-conflict countries.

With the Asia Foundation since 1997, Tim is currently the Foundation’s Director for Elections and Political Processes, and is based in Bangkok.

While with the Foundation, Tim has managed or developed elections and democracy programs in Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

His particular interests and expertise include culture of democracy, Islam and democracy, democracy assessment, civil society strengthening, civil society-conducted voter and civic education, domestic and international observation, political party development and sustainable election administration.

Carlos M. Navarro Fierro became an official of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) of Mexico in 1993 and is currently the Director of Electoral Studies and Political Affairs at IFE’s International Affairs Unit. 

He has been the IFE’s representative in a number of international missions of electoral observation. He has also been speaker at diverse regional, continental and international forums on political and electoral issues.  

He authors the publications on the Mexican electoral regime prepared by the Federal Electoral Institute for the international community, as well as diverse international compared studies on political and electoral issues, such as external voting, financing systems, oversight and equity conditions in the political-electoral contests; electoral systems for presidential and legislative elections, and juridical regime of political parties, among others.

He is responsible of the Spanish version of the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network.  

Sa Ngidi is currently Electoral Operations Manager for the Gauteng provincial office of the South African Electoral Commission.

She has worked in a full time capacity in the election field for over 6 years and has experienced and managed electoral processes from diverse perspectives and in various capacities. She coordinated Observer Missions to countries in the Southern African Development Region whilst she worked at the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa.

She has also participated in International Electoral Conferences and observed elections in countries that include Australia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Germany and most recently Mexico. Her electoral management expertise includes the management of voting day operations, candidate nomination processes, by-elections and political party engagement.

Sa is a contributor to select files of the updated version of the ACE Encyclopedia.

Vijay Patidar is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, the senior civil service of India, and has specialized in elections at national and provincial level in India and also internationally.

He has served as joint Chief Electoral Officer of the state of Madhya Pradesh, as a consultant in the electoral components of four UN peacekeeping missions, and as head of the Elections Team at International IDEA.

Maja Tjernström has worked as a Programme Officer, for the Political Parties Programme of International IDEA from 2000 to 2006. During her time at IDEA, she has managed the project on Funding of Political Parties and has gained substantial field experience from South Caucasus, South Asia and the Balkans.

She is an experienced Polling Station Officer and International Election Observer. Ms Tjernström has also published extensively on issues related to democratization, voter turnout and political parties, with a special focus on political party finance. Her previous experience includes holding the position of Chairwoman of the Umeå Association of Foreign Affairs and forming part of the Editorial Board of Globus magazine of foreign affairs.

Ms Tjernström has an academic background in Political Science (Complutense University, Spain and Umeå University, Sweden) and holds a Master's degree in Humanitarian Assistance (Bochum University, Germany and Uppsala University, Sweden).

Domenico Tuccinardi is a specialist in electoral management and legislation. A law graduate and postgraduate in international law and international organizations, Domenico has worked with several international organizations in more than 10 different countries of various continents on electoral and democracy development projects.

Among the positions covered, he was Special Advisor for the EU to the Referendum Commission on the Independence of Montenegro, led the EU Assistance Project for the first Constituent National Assembly of Iraq and was Deputy Director of the OSCE Elections Department in Bosnia. In this function, he managed the transition of the electoral administration from the OSCE to the national election commission and represented the OSCE within the said commission. Domenico also managed voter registration projects and has a wide election observation experience.

More recently he managed election observation missions in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Domenico also is a coauthor of publications on electoral assistance and cooperates with International IDEA and the Australian Electoral Commission as writer and editor.

Alan Wall is an electoral and democracy development consultant. He is a co-author of International  IDEA’s Handbook of Electoral Management Design, one of the initial lead writers for the ACE Project, and a contributor to the current Electoral Management and Voting Operations sections of the ACE Encyclopedia.

He has recently assisted Ukrainian authorities to review voter registration systems and evaluated voter registration in Iraq for IMIE. During 2005 and 2006 he has been Indonesia Country Director for Democracy International’s local government election assistance and opinion polling programs, and from 2000 to 2004 he managed IFES’ Indonesian activities, encompassing programs assisting electoral, legal, media and parliamentary reform and civil society development.

He managed IFES’ democracy assistance projects for the 1999 local government elections in Azerbaijan. Other recent postings include as the United Nations’ Chief Technical Advisor to the Nigerian election commission (INEC) in 1998, as Deputy Chief Electoral Officer for the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia in 1996, and as an advisor to the South African government for the local government elections of 1995.

From 1984 to 1994 he held various senior management positions with the Australian Electoral Commission.