Through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, many EMBs have sent their staff to observe electoral management in other countries, or seconded them to other EMBs for training and exposure to different approaches to electoral organization. This is a quick and relatively inexpensive way of gaining new ideas and exposure to good practices in electoral administration. A number of large EMBs, like INE in Mexico and NEC in South Korea, organize international visitor programmes for their elections. Regional electoral associations can also facilitate the exchange of information and the secondment and training of electoral administrators (see also Chapter 11).
International advisers and consultants have the potential to help EMBs solve difficult specific problems, to advise EMB members and staff on how to ensure that their operations meet international standards, and to enhance the EMB’s internal problem-solving capacities.
International advisers may be specialists in particular electoral and technical fields or skilled electoral managers, but EMB projects that use advisers and consultants with experience in other countries need to be structured to ensure skills transfer and capacity building through formal or informal one-to-one mentoring of EMB staff so that the project’s achievements do not depart with the advisers. When substantial teams of advisers are deployed to an EMB, it is particularly important to ensure that they avoid becoming a discrete clique within the organization, dealing with each other rather than with their counterparts.
