Developing a strategic plan is a basic step in focusing an EMB’s efforts on achieving a set of agreed objectives based on its legally defined responsibilities. The strategic plan is the management tool from which fundamental decisions on EMB activity flow — operational planning and prioritizing, resource allocation and service standards. The strategic plan provides the EMB with a blueprint for service and organizational strengthening, integration and improvement. It helps the EMB operate in and understand its changing environment.
The strategic plan is also a public document that serves as a record of what the EMB stands for, what it does and why, and what it intends to achieve. It is a road map that guides and motivates the EMB for a defined period of years, and plays an important role as a marker against which stakeholders can measure its performance.
An EMB without a strategic plan is like a pilot without a compass.
An effective EMB strategic plan sets out a vision of an open, democratic and accountable institution. It is also consistent with the EMB’s mandate and implemented within the framework of the constitution and the electoral law. It takes into account all known factors that could affect the EMB’s performance, such as the regulatory environment, technology, the likelihood of conflict, stakeholder participation or voter apathy, and EMB-government relations.
It would be unusual for an EMB’s strategic plan to cover more than one national electoral cycle, as post-electoral event reviews may result in significant changes to the electoral administration environment. A strategic plan is not set in concrete: it is a practical, strategic guide, and must evolve if significant changes in the external or internal environment require a revised strategy.
Yet it is also important for a strategic plan to take account of environmental factors such as the increasing use of the Internet worldwide or rising demands for out-of-country voting, which over several election cycles can significantly alter the context in which elections are conducted. Figure 8 is an example of a succinct summary strategic plan, developed by the Australian EMB.
Basic elements of the strategic plan are:
- Vision: what the EMB aspires to be;
- Purpose, objective or mission: the fundamental focus of the EMB;
- Values: the ethical concepts on which the EMB’s activities are based, such as impartiality, accountability, independence, professionalism, effectiveness, equity and service-mindedness;
- Outcomes and focus areas: what the EMB aims to achieve;
- Key results: the effects that the EMB wants to have on its environment;
- Indicators: measurable targets that help determine how well the EMB has achieved its intended results;
- EMB data: the establishment, structure and composition of the EMB; and
- Performance management strategy: how the EMB will promote the improvement of individual, team and organizational performance in a holistic, systematic and sustainable way.
An analysis by the EMB of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats may be an important tool in facilitating the development of a strategic plan. Identifying the contextual elements on which the intended outcomes of the strategic plan are based is necessary in order to make valid evaluations of achievements. The assumed context could include specific levels of stakeholders’ participation, adequate infrastructure to support the strategic plan, and the recruitment and retention of qualified and experienced staff. Each country is likely to have a unique context, such as the EMB’s efforts to deal with, for example, inter-ethnic conflict or the effects of HIV/AIDS on its employees.
It is important that the EMB consult with its stakeholders in the development, monitoring and review of its strategic plan. This promotes stakeholders’ awareness and appreciation of the EMB’s challenges and strengths, and may boost their confidence in the electoral process in general. It also promotes the EMB’s awareness of its stakeholders’ expectations and priorities.
