IDEA: "Electoral Management" essay
An essay on "Electoral Management" by International IDEA, as part of its periodic highlights on the Development Gateway's portal of the World Bank (September 21, 2004).
Author: Antonio Spinelli, Senior Programme Officer, Electoral Processes, International IDEA
Photo Credit: Curt Carnemark, the World Bank
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization comprised of member states from all continents that supports sustainable democracy worldwide. With this Special Feature on Electoral Management, we open a series of highlights devoted to the issues of Elections and produced in cooperation with International IDEA.
The purpose of an election is to translate the freely expressed political will of the people into a workable and legitimate representative institution. The running of elections, once considered internal matters and part of the sovereignty of the nation state, became “internationalised” by the late 1980s. Conditionalities (donor assistance tied to legitimate and good governance), intensive donor support to new and emerging democracies, technological advances and standardization of electoral procedures and expectations are contributing factors that affect all countries that hold elections.
The ability of countries to respond to the needs and challenges of electoral change has varied - from Spain and Canada which conducted thorough inventories of international experience and options harnessing all available knowledge, to Cambodia, East Timor, and Kosovo, where neither internal capacity nor knowledge was initially available to design and implement internationally accepted democratic elections. In the latter cases the international community has responded by “taking over” essential aspects of the electoral process.
Recognizing the unsustainable nature of this approach, a newfound emphasis on local ownership, capacity building and skills transfer has emerged, and has also led the discovery of new problems. The move to local ownership in democratization processes has seen the emergence of a knowledge gap. While electoral assistance providers expect and demand local input and decision– making on issues of electoral design and administration, there is often no genuine understanding of the choices to be made, the options available and their real practical consequences. This can be seen in many countries where academics (non-practitioners) are entrusted with designing an electoral system and drafting an electoral law; the theoretical basis applied has led to confusing and often unworkable electoral structures. The provision of sufficient information, in the form of options, international practices and guiding principles, improves local ownership by increasing the chances to choose systems and structures that can meet local expectations and needs.
The key foundations for an election are:
- an electoral system - the method of translating the votes cast in a general election into seats won by parties and candidates;
- the electoral law - the codification of the electoral system which defines the principles of electoral rights and electoral operations; and
- the electoral management body (EMB) - the institution responsible for administrating the election.
If these elements are not constructed appropriately, and if they do not allow for the genuine will of the people to be truthfully translated into representative structures, the election will fail.
Although many international organizations, such as IDEA, agree that international standards should be followed in the structure and choice of these elements, the standards have yet to be defined.
Elections are the primary vehicle for choice and representational governance. Effective management of elections requires institutions that are inclusive, sustainable, just and act in an independent manner.
The capacity of the electoral management body remains a key concern. The failure of an Electoral Management Body (EMB) to achieve the essential goals of transparency, professionalism and accuracy will lead to the failure of an election. In addition, EMBs receive large quantities of donor funding as well as support from their own governments; however, donors find it increasingly difficult to judge the cost effectiveness of this assistance, or the quality of the service being provided.
The issue of declining trust in elected institutions, and the resultant declining participation in political processes, including elections, has spread from consolidated democracies to developing ones. Issues of poor political and electoral literacy and decreasing voter turnout have been documented time and again. A particularly disturbing trend is the increasing recourse to violence to settle disputed elections, rather than the rule of law.
The role of media is crucial both in bringing about an increased awareness of elections and thus increased participation, as well as in contributing to or controlling the potential for electoral violence. Often the media do not appreciate the finer details and crucial stages of electoral process, or why a particular operation is done in a certain manner. The media’s confusion and subsequent misreporting can lead to the public’s suspicion of the electoral process. Equally important is the problem of access to media by parties and candidates. Thus the role of the media in reporting elections and in presenting political options and reflecting public opinion in the electoral context needs to be strengthened.
International IDEA's Work on Electoral Management Issues
International IDEA’s elections-related work promotes and enhances the quality and sustainability in election structures, election administration, and in international election work. The program is committed to:
- quality - enhancing the skills and the confidence of election managers;
- sustainability - enhancing the permanence, professionalism, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the electoral process.
In this context, International IDEA undertakes comprehensive research and compilation of worldwide strategies on electoral processes and presents this information through publications, CD-ROMs, the Internet and other electronic formats to ensure wide accessibility:
The Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) Electronic Publication represents the first-ever attempt to provide a globally accessible information resource on election administration. It provides user-friendly, operationally oriented information on options, detailed procedures, alternative solutions and the administrative and cost implications associated with organizing elections.
The current version of the ACE Project is the result of the joint work of three leading international organizations: IDEA, IFES - Democracy at Large, and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). In January 2004, Elections Canada, the Federal Electoral Institute of Mexico, the United Nations Development Programme and EISA joined the project as full partners and the University of Calgary as an associate partner. This expanded partnership is working towards an ACE 2 version with three dimensions: knowledge services, community of practice and capacity development.
A joint endeavor between International IDEA, the United Nations Development Programme and IFES, the Election Process Information Collection (EPIC) Project provides comparative and country-by-country data on election systems, laws, management and administration.
When a country begins to reform how elections are structured and organized, election officials want access to reliable and comparative information. Not only do they need information about the different options available, but also about how many and which countries are actually using those various options. They want to be able to answer questions such as:
- "How many countries count their ballots by hand?"
- "Which countries have special voter education programs targeting women, illiterate voters or minority groups?"
- "What is standard practice to compile and update voter registers?"
- "In how many countries is voting compulsory?"
- "In which countries is the national electoral management body appointed for the election period only?"
The EPIC Project presents information about electoral systems, electoral management, legislative framework, voter registration, voter education and other related topics in a wide range of countries. In addition to providing comparative information, this site also provides electoral country profiles, useful for electoral observation missions, media, and international organizations. Users are able to determine how the country's practices match or divert from regional/global practice.
- "THE BRIDGE PROJECT – A TRAINING CURRICULUM FOR ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATORS":www.bridge-project.org
Implemented in partnership between International IDEA, the Australian Electoral Commission, and the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division, the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance & Elections (BRIDGE) project is a full course curriculum in election administration. The BRIDGE Project provides a forum and resources for developing expertise in electoral administration and enhances the sustainability of electoral processes by developing the capacity of a trained corps of professionals. The BRIDGE has been implemented good results in East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Australia and regionally in the South Caucasus, Southern Africa and Francophone West Africa.
The role of money in politics is an issue of daily debate in old and new democracies alike. The ways that parties get access to money can influence the outcome of elections, determine the relationship between party leaders and members, affect the number of women elected and condition the level of public trust as a whole. The Handbook on Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns is designed to encourage informed public debate. It looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the different national laws and regulations from a regional perspective. It analyses the problems of enforcement and the opportunities for effective public disclosure of funds.
This Code is designed to assist election administrators by providing general guidelines for their work. The Code details the ethical principles that should form the basis of electoral administration. Election administrators face so many different circumstances and situations in their work that it would be impractical to attempt to make a firm rule for every possible situation. Rather, each person or organization using this Code of Conduct should apply it flexibly, together with good common sense, to meet the requirements of each particular situation.
