Any effort to make electoral assistance more effective must tackle the issue of the increasing use of technology in electoral processes. The accelerating development of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) applications available for electoral purposes and the appeal that such applications have for the partner countries’ EMB are factors to be reckoned with by all development agencies, electoral assistance providers and practitioners.
ICT has already dramatically changed the way elections are conducted in many developed countries, and it must be accepted that this process will go on and affect more and more emerging democracies, including post-conflict countries, regardless of their level of preparedness to 
introduce such applications. In general terms, ICT applications in the electoral process can be categorised into three broad groups: a) communications, telecommunications, radio, networks and the Internet; b) computer hardware and software, word processing/spread sheets, database management systems; c) specialised electronic/mechanical devices, non-electronic innovations and materials.
In this context, the basic question for all those engaged in the electoral management and assistance field no longer centres on whether technology developments are acceptable in electoral processes, but rather on what kind of technology is suitable for a specific country, taking into account its level of infrastructure and its electoral system. The biggest challenge is how to ensure a sustainable, appropriate, cost effective and transparent use of technology in post-conflict elections and in fragile or emerging democracies. There is obviously no fixed solution that can be applicable everywhere, different situations requiring different solutions. As a general rule, the level of technological upgrades suitable for a given partner country should always be directly related not only to the capacity, but also to the trust and independence enjoyed by its EMB, as these are the elements that will determine their acceptance by the public and, as a consequence, increase trust in the electoral process.
However, there are other factors that influence the decision making process in choosing to implement a new ICT solution, and they are not always sound ones. Sometimes undue influence in favour of one solution or another is exerted by interested vendors, or even by development agencies who wish to introduce a technology similar to the one in use in their own country. At other times, it might be political groups in power that view the use of technology as the ultimate and the most effective method to control the electoral process. Advances in technology are not to be feared as the major factor for change, although such developments have created new opportunities for political and economic interest groups. In this framework, development agencies, practitioners, academics and electoral assistance providers have an important role to play in influencing the technological choices to be adopted in a given electoral process.
Technology can build credibility by improving the speed and efficiency of the electoral process. How its application relates to the EMBs’ key obligations – legality, neutrality, transparency, accuracy, and service-orientation – is less certain. Too much attention to technology applications may also divert the EMBs from other important matters, and may drain development agencies’ or EMB budgets. Costs associated with system defects, poor design or testing may leave development agencies captive to increasing costs in order to save what they have already invested in. There is a need to "skill up" staff to implement sustainable 
systems, and this may not be easy given the short timetables involved. In addition, technology will have an impact on voters – in terms of the perceived integrity of the electoral process – and possibly also on the community, for example, when centrally supplied voting machines replace locally constructed wooden ballot boxes.
From an implementation perspective, best practices on when and how to introduce and implement technological upgrades in a given electoral process, and on how to avoid falling into vendor-driven traps, can be found in the ACE Encyclopedia under the Elections and Technology topic area and in Chapter 3.7 of the EC Methodological Guide on Electoral Assistance, as well as in Chapters 3 and 6 of the UNDP Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide. The latter also offers a wider perspective for development agencies on what technological changes are sensible to support in a partner country. A good understanding of the electoral cycle helps to identify the best circumstances in which a partner country’s EMB can embark on a technological upgrade. An important consideration is that these circumstances may not be in line with the typical development agencies’s planned financial commitment shortly before an election.
Effective technology upgrades cannot be introduced without an honest evaluation of the degree of IT literacy and infrastructure that already exists in the partner country. However, long-debated issues like feasibility and technical and financial sustainability in the long-term can be properly addressed through transparent and open tendering procedures (inclusive of pilot and validation tests), and through serious training and capacity building measures to be required as part of the service. Nevertheless, a fascinating debate remains open on whether it is appropriate to introduce a level technology that is aligned with the existing capacity of the partner country or whether such capacity should be increased for the purposes of introducing a technological upgrade that can serve the partner country beyond the immediate needs of the electoral event. This debate is particularly heated over crucial aspects of the electoral process, such as voter registration, voting operations, vote tabulation and results aggregation. There are also much less controversial areas, such as communications and logistics, voter and civic education, and even training, where technology can be introduced more smoothly as a tool to improve effectiveness and product delivery and without involving the legislative power.
All the above considerations about the correct and adequate use of technology apply specifically to an area of rapidly growing interest which has significant financial implications: the introduction of biometric features in specific segments of the electoral process: voter registration and voting operations. More specifically, the notion of Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is used to refer to software applications capable of establishing the identity of an individual through fingerprints by the use of biometric functions. AFIS requirements have been recently included in several voter registration processes, and in some cases these requirements have been included in the legal provisions governing voter registration. AFIS systems are in fact increasingly considered to be the definitive solution to voter impersonation and multiple voting practices. They are especially popular in post-conflict countries and emerging democracies with either very limited or non-existent forms of civil registry identification, such as DRC, Togo, Guinea Conakry, Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique and Pakistan, and are under consideration in a very large number of developing countries.
The one aspect of introducing technology applications in electoral processes that has been strongly neglected to date is the socio-cultural dimension. Often the heavy investments in technology are not supported by adequate attention to confidence building activities aimed at explaining to the stakeholders and the electorate the purpose and the functions, as well as the security control mechanisms, associated with every technology upgrade. The generation of new distrust can sometimes be the most difficult problem to overcome in transitioning to a new system and might lead to a dangerous loss of credibility for the electoral institution. Too much may be expected all at once from technology upgrades – improved security, transparency and efficiency – and public expectations may be unrealistic.
The UNDP Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide will address the issues highlighted above and offer practical recommendations on how electoral assistance providers and electoral officials can engage vendors and stakeholders in a debate leading to the selection of the most appropriate products and the eventual establishment of synergies with civil registration and census activities at the best price - through transparent procurement procedures, resisting the hard sell and not being forced to resort to “least worst options” by time constraints.
Next: The Way Forward
