Any structure should have regard to the complete election cycle and all the separate and distinct functions undertaken prior to, during, and after the election event.
An EMB responsible for a small number of electoral tasks may only be structured into two main divisions:
- electoral operations, covering subdivisions such as voter registration, boundary delimitation, organisation of voting and vote counting, party and candidate registration, electoral training and development, research, information services and publications, and legal affairs; and
- corporate services, covering subdivisions such as financial management, human resources management, knowledge management, and IT infrastructure management.
An EMB with a greater amount of functions and responsibilities may be better suited by additional and more specialised divisions; such EMBs could include functional divisions such as:
- Registration Division – responsible for registration of voters, parties and candidates or alternatively for only voters or only parties and candidates.
- Human Resources Division - responsible for the recruitment, staff orientation and development, training, and capacity building of election staff, job descriptions, terms of reference, gender mainstreaming, etc.
- Finance and Accounts Division - responsible for the production of timely budget estimates, management of funds, accounting, auditing, and making payments to suppliers and staff, and reporting on the use of funds.
- Legal Services Division - responsible for codes of conduct, dispute resolution, litigation, petitions, applications etc. May in some cases be responsible for law reform and for drafting new election laws and procedures and interpreting the law for the national body to determine its position on legal challenges and complaints.
- Civic and Voter Education Division - this division could handle all parts of civic and voter education and have responsibility for content, methodology, production, and distribution of education materials and for managing training courses for stakeholders such as political parties and candidates, legislatures, media, the donor community, civil society, election observers, and others.
- Media Centre - to handle relations with domestic and international journalists, which could be parallel to voter education under a broader public information division. In some cases, public information also publishes a newsletter and oversees a library or research office. Some election bodies now also have international relations offices to handle observer matters, requests for external assistance, and general relations with counterpart organisations in other countries.
- Information Technology Division - responsible for planning and developing computerised information systems for the national election body when such technology is to be used and for its accuracy. It is important that this division is up-to-date with the latest technological advancements and that staff is qualified and experienced. Computerised voter registration systems, computerised voting and counting systems, electronic transmission of results, and in remote areas, high-frequency radio transmission of results should all be on the agenda for this division.
Under simpler models, some functions that do not fit easily into either of the divisions – such as stakeholder relations, international relations, and support for the EMB members – may be attached directly to the head of the secretariat’s office. It is preferable that audit and evaluation functions report directly to the Chair or members of the EMB in Independent and Mixed Models, and to the EMB’s chief executive officer in Governmental Models.
However, none of these models necessarily fit specific electoral environments. There are a large variety of structures deemed appropriate by EMBs. Judgement on an appropriate structure has to be made by each EMB, in relation to its environment, functions, priorities, and strategy.
