The
practical implementation of external voting is complicated by factors such as
the number of electors, their locations, the distances involved and the
complexity of the voting system in place. Election planning becomes a
two-tiered process as the tasks involved in organizing an election in-country
are duplicated, under very different circumstances, for the external voting.
At each
stage of the external electoral process, emphasis must be placed on
implementing procedures and processes that are not only faithful to the
legislation but also as close as possible to those in place for in-country
voters. All electors must have access to a similar registration and polling
process, no matter where they are located. Administrative creativity and
flexibility are needed, but the process must always be in accordance with the
law.
The
problems of implementation will vary depending on the methods of registration
and voting, the geographical distribution of expatriates and the political
situation (e.g. during a transition after violent conflict). In all cases, security
and privacy are central to the process, whether voting is done in
person, by post, by proxy (essentially an internal process) or by electronic
means. Many groups of external electors (such as refugee populations) may be
vulnerable to intimidation and will need assurances that they are protected by
the secrecy built in to the process. Other groups (e.g. military serving
outside the home country and members of the diplomatic community) will have
more confidence in the system but will expect the same protection.
In first or
transitional elections, the political players will watch the external voting
with suspicion. If any political force is seeking a reason to challenge the
results of an election, anomalies in the external voting can often be pointed out
to justify any complaints. For this reason, the planning for external voting
requires a carefully integrated approach to ensure that it is as transparent
and administratively correct as the internal voting.
Administrative
problems or delays in the external voting are often viewed as deliberate acts
of fraud by an incumbent government or even by the election management body
(EMB). ‘Transition elections should be viewed as accidents waiting to happen at
the intersection between political suspicion and administrative incapacity.
Every administrative problem is interpreted by one side as designed by its
opponent to do it harm’ (Pastor 1999). This is particularly true for external
voting. It is important to eliminate any potential cause for suspicion when planning
the implementation of external voting.
Finally,
disputes and complaints will need to be resolved quickly and fairly. All
participants in the electoral process must have the right to appeal to an
independent, impartial body. Procedures need to be established for the appeal
process to ensure it is accessible for the external electors and within the
election timeline. All complaints will need to be dealt with in an equitable
and timely manner.
