There is a strong case for EMB staff gaining graduate or postgraduate qualifications in electoral management and governance to increase their actual and perceived professionalism. More institutions of higher learning are offering courses on aspects of governance and electoral administration, including American University (USA), Griffith University (Australia) and the University of Paris II (France). International IDEA developed a Model Curriculum for Master Programmes in Electoral Policy and Administration to encourage post-graduate professional education in electoral management.
The best-known professional development course available for electoral administrators is the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) course, which is supported by a partnership of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), International IDEA, IFES, UNDP and the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD). BRIDGE courses are presented by accredited BRIDGE facilitators, to whom the curriculum materials are made freely available as a global good. BRIDGE consists of 24 stand-alone modules in three main streams (Foundation Modules, Electoral Operations and Working with Electoral Stakeholders), so that any course can be tailored to an EMB’s specific professional development needs. All BRIDGE modules are available in English. Some are also available in Arabic, Armenian, Dari and Pashto (Persian), French, Georgian, Indonesian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Tetum. As of July 2014, some 900 BRIDGE courses had been hosted in 93 countries, with the number being held increasing exponentially each year.
In the UK, the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) conducts regular training and education for election administrators. EMBs (local authorities) in the UK usually require candidates for election-related positions to have the relevant AEA qualifications. The South African EMB has been developing a formal training and education curriculum for election practitioners and an accreditation mechanism for qualified election managers. The Bangladeshi EMB has set up the Electoral Training Institute in Dhaka, which conducts intensive training for electoral staff at all levels, both face to face and electronically. There are strict entrance, accreditation and continuing professional development requirements for membership of the Professional Electoral Service of the EMB in Mexico.
