The past decade has seen an enormous increase in the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) in election management, which has considerably changed election administration in many countries. The use of ICTs can positively impact election management, especially in making some processes quicker and more efficient. But ICTs solutions also carry risks, they often suffer from unrealistic expectations, and they may not be appropriate in some contexts. In his 2009 statement to the UN General Assembly, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed his concern that “…some of the poorest countries in the world have chosen some of the most expensive electoral processes and technology…”.
The global electoral assistance community is still in the early stages of developing and adopting best practices for ICTs in elections. This paper offers towards this process the following guiding principles, which are not exhaustive. ICTs solutions in electoral process should be:
The complexities and costs of ICTs solutions make it absolutely imperative that their procurement takes place effectively and transparently. This paper identifies key challenges in procuring electoral goods and services, with a specific focus on electoral ICTs.
In relation to electoral procurement the paper emphasizes how it has a much larger scope and impact than is often acknowledged, being often one of the most expensive lines in an electoral budget. It cuts across a wide array of activities around the electoral cycle and should therefore be adopted as an integral part of electoral management and assistance – both in planning and implementation. Delays and shortfalls in procurement and distribution of materials can critically impact the execution and outcome of an election. Therefore, procurement planning is vital and should always be integrated into the programming phase of electoral management exercises and assistance. Planning should include: the development of a procurement strategy and risk management analysis; analysis of supply chain constraints; cost analysis; and assessment of implementing partners’ capacities.
The “EC-UNDP Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of Electoral Assistance Projects” note that sensitive, highly specific or costly election materials should preferably be procured with the close collaboration and involvement of the UNDP Procurement Support Office (UNDP/PSO)7. For very expensive, highly technical materials UNDP procurement procedures would include additional risk mitigation mechanisms, such as pilot and validation tests to be conducted as part of the evaluation and before a vendor is selected.
The paper focuses also on voter registration, arguably the area where the use of ICTs is expanding most rapidly. Voter registration is a crucial and considerably expensive undertaking in an electoral process, as an accurate voter register is a cornerstone of a credible election. This paper distinguishes three categories of voter registration methodologies according to the level of technology used: low-tech, medium-tech and high-tech. Current trends show how countries, including impoverished post-war countries, are introducing high-tech systems using biometric features, such as Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) or facial recognition scanning, for civil and voter registration.
When such complex technological solutions are considered to be procured and adopted, it is fundamental to acquire a full understanding of needs and requirements, and an accurate procurement plan. Procurement for voter registration systems, particularly biometric systems, involves diverse complexities: procurement of biometric-experienced ICTs specialists; decisions regarding local versus international competitive processes; minimum standard requirements; security issues; cost-effectiveness; disaster recovery issues; total solution models (i.e. build operate transfer models) versus technology transfer models, and change management issues.
This paper addresses these and other issues in the context of UNDP procurement. While focusing on UNDP’s recent experiences, it outlines potential lessons learnt and best practices in terms of planning and managing procurement of electoral goods and services which are relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders. Procurement at UNDP is in line with policies, regulations and best practices of International Public Procurement, and therefore it is a useful reference for any public institution or organisation involved in procurement for elections. To conclude, the paper’s main topics are summarized and considerations and best practices are mapped for future reference of practitioners in the introduction and use of ICTs in electoral processes.
