Governmental EMBs under the Governmental and Mixed Models are often bound by government procurement guidelines and practices. EMBs under the Independent Model, and independent EMBs under the Mixed Model, may be bound by governmental procurement requirements (such as those targeted at enhancing probity and effectiveness in procurement), or they may be able to determine some or all of their procurement policies and procedures.
Some EMBs have to use a generic government or public sector purchasing agency for all procurement. In some circumstances, the complexity of purchasing rules means that it is often more effective for the EMB to use such an agency than to undertake this task internally. Where the EMB must use a government-wide purchasing agency, it may obtain post-purchase approval of expenses or have some purchases designated as exempt from purchasing agency rules. However, this practice is generally regarded as incompatible with the principles of good governance and efficiency.
Using government-wide purchasing agencies may not result in effective EMB procurement, as many government bureaucracies are not able to work to the very short and strict timelines that generally confront EMBs in acquiring electoral goods and services. EMBs can thus set up their own internal purchasing boards to manage their procurement independently; this increases an EMB’s control over procurement decisions and timing, but makes it accountable for all procurement.
Any public or government criticism of the probity or suitability of EMB procurement decisions can very quickly reflect on the EMB’s overall credibility. EMBs need to ensure that their purchasing processes are fully transparent, meet the highest standards of probity, show no favouritism, include a genuinely competitive bidding process, determine the winning bidders on objectively provable grounds and are free from any taint of corruption. Before assigning control of procurement to an EMB, it must have sufficient resources, skills and control systems in place, including an enforceable code of conduct and conflict of interest provisions.
Robust checks and review procedures are required for major procurement decisions, as are control measures that are rigorous enough to withstand the pressures of any fast-tracked purchasing required due to late operational decisions or delayed release of funding. An EMB’s procurement procedures may be streamlined with no loss of integrity if it sets up pre-qualification procedures that identify earlier in the electoral cycle those suppliers that meet its specifications for supplying specific goods or services, and who are invited to tender for these before an electoral event. Pre-qualification procedures must, however, be as transparent and strict as the procurement itself. It is good practice to require bidders for contracts to accept the EMB code of conduct.
