Accountability is another
important aspect of election integrity. Elections are, after all, the main means
by which citizens hold their elected officials accountable. In turn, electoral
administrators and policy makers are held accountable for the quality of
electoral process they administer.
The public deserves to know
whether government funds are being handled in accordance with laws and regulations,
whether electoral agencies are achieving the expected results, and whether they
are operating economically and efficiently.
Electoral administrators should use public resources for official purposes and
are accountable for the use of those funds.
Electoral officials are also responsible
for the specific decisions they make during the course of the electoral
process, as well as for the consequences of those decisions. They are
responsible for the details of election administration as well as the effective
functioning of the overall electoral process. Electoral managers themselves must
comply with all laws and regulations, and strive to ensure that the procedures
they operate and supervise are also in accordance with the norms.
Electoral accountability in
turn depends on transparency – the ability of election participants to acquire
full information about electoral processes and the decisions that were made to
put them into place and how to operate them.
Absolute transparency is also essential to preserve the credibility of
the electoral process, and to eliminate confusion, doubt and suspicions about
its various aspects.
Accountability of officials usually
includes requirements to report on their actions to official oversight agencies,
funding sources and other major stakeholders. Regular monitoring and through audits of
financial and performance reports can be used to ensure accountability.
Other, non-official
participants in the electoral process can also be held accountable for their
activities. Political parties,
candidates and their agents are accountable for how they conduct themselves
during the electoral process. Observers are accountable for how they observe
and report.
A few countries grant immunity to elected or public
officials. In the case of electoral officials and other officials exercising
related functions, that cannot eliminate the State’s obligation to provide the
conditions for free and fair elections and to respond to and correct
abuses. (Recall that the ICCPR provides
that persons whose recognized rights (including electoral rights under Article
25 thereof) are violated “shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that
the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity”.
[1] It also may be advisable to review the
immunity of public officials more generally in order to ensure that it does not
conflict with their accountability or undermine the integrity of the electoral
process.
[1]
ICCPR, Article 2.3 (a)
