Original question:

I am interested in electoral management training and master courses.

Could you please send me some suggestion about masters or other training courses related to electoral management.

Thank you in advance.

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Links to related resources:

• ACE Encyclopaedia: Electoral Management topic area

• Center for Democracy & Election Management

• Summer Institute on Democracy and Elections

• the BRIDGE Training course

• F. Clifton White Applied Research Center for Democracy and Elections (ARC)

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ACE Network Facilitator's response:

Thank you for your question regarding electoral management training courses.

There is a strong need for graduate or post graduate qualifications in electoral management and governance, and to our knowledge there are unfortunately not many master level courses in this field.

Some institutions of higher learning that do offer courses on aspects of governance and electoral administration are:

• the Center for Democracy & Election Management at the American University (US), Griffith University (Australia);
• the Center for the Comparative Study of Elections at the University of Paris II (France);
• the University of Calgary (Canada) conducts a course an undergraduate in Electoral Behaviour and has also explored ways of conducting formal training in electoral governance;

• the Scuola Superiore di Sant'Anna at the University of Pisa offers election related courses on election observation, post conflict elections and other topics. For more information on election-related courses contact the school at: Tel. +39 050 883111

• the Institute for Human Rights at the Åbo Academy University (Finland) conducts courses on election observation and human rights;
• the Needs Network or Needs training is a small initiative with fairly high output. The Network mainly focuses on capacity building in election observation terms and conducts, among other things, training for Long Term Observers (LTOs);

• the International Organization for Migration (IOM) together with the State University of New York, Geneseo have/are developing a course for election administrators, donors, human rights campaigners, and other interested parties. The PRESS Training Module offers an overview of how to organize elections that enfranchise refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in a cost-effective and transparent fashion. The training is still under development.

The American University 'Summer Institute on Democracy and Elections' is probably the most comprehensive course on Election Administration at the moment. It is a two week long course that offers executive education on elections for experienced election officials, magistrates, academics, and civil society leaders from the United States and around the world. The course has a clear policy focus, it explores the main components of democratic election systems and key decisions policy makers face as they design and manage electoral systems, such as the structure, financing and evaluation of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), professionalization of election administration and administrators, delimitation of boundaries, public participation, campaigning and campaign finance, voting technology, election observation etc. 

Two interesting professional development courses for electoral administrators are the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) course, jointly developed by International IDEA, the UN Electoral Assistance Division and the Australian Electoral Commission, and the BEAT (Basic Election Administration Training) course developed by IFES.

Overview of BRIDGE Modules

Bridge is a professional development course that has been conducted in about 15 countries and has been translated into several languages. To give you an idea of the subjects covered by these courses, below is an overview of the 10 modules of the BRIDGE Programme:

Module 1:  An Introduction to Electoral Administration explores such topics as:

• reasons for having elections and the nature of alternative options in their absence
• the standards and principles of good electoral administration 

Module 2: Electoral Systems explores such topics as:

• comparative electoral systems and how they turn votes into representation
• the implications of different electoral systems for electoral processes and design

Module 3 Public Outreach explores such topics as:

• possible strategies for running a public outreach campaign
• possible steps in planning and implementing an electoral public outreach program 
• possible strategies for running a public outreach campaign

Module 4 Boundary Delimitation explores such topics as:

• approaches to delimitating electoral districts
• types of structures and rules for delimiting electoral districts
• tasks involved in drawing electoral district boundaries

Module 5 Registration of Voters explores such topics as:

• criteria for franchise
• types of registration
• approaches to information management
• criteria for franchise

• types of registration

• approaches to information management

Module 6 Contestants explores such topics as:

•  the role of contestants

• approaches to party registration

• codes of conduct for contestants

Module 7 Preparation for the Electoral Event explores such topics as:

• possible frameworks for developing procedures

• approaches to technical design

• approaches to logistics 

Module 8 Polling and the Count explores such topics as:

• approaches to the polling day

• approaches to the count

• post-election planning

Module 9 Electoral Observers explores such topics as:

• pros and cons of observers in elections
• domestic and international observers
• observers’ code of conduct 

Module 10 Strategies for Sustainability explores such topics as:

• strategic planning
• approaches to capacity development
• approaches to electoral reform 

I hope this is of help.

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The opinions expressed by the ACE Network Facilitator do not necessarily reflect those of the ACE Partner organizations.

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