Performance audits typically involve both internal examination — reviewing an EMB’s relevant policies and records and conducting interviews with relevant EMB members — and external assessment — interviews with an EMB’s stakeholders and a review of media and other reports on its activities so as to determine the external perception of the EMB’s performance. These audits commonly undertake both cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses, and use performance indicators — included in the EMB’s strategic plan, where appropriate — and the standards of service either defined by the EMB or expected by its stakeholders, to assess the EMB’s performance against its strategic objectives.
Components of a performance audit usually include:
- interviewing the principal stakeholders, such as political parties, voters, members of the legislature, CSOs, media organizations, relevant government ministries and agencies, and suppliers. This may include joint consultation with stakeholders at workshops or seminars;
- interviewing EMB members, secretariat staff and where relevant, temporary staff or contractors engaged for the activities under review;
- examining the EMB’s strategic plan, management structure, relevant policies, operational plans and task assignments, and the implementation of these planned activities; and
- reviewing relevant constitutional instruments, laws, regulations, court or tribunal decisions, codes of conduct, and the EMB’s computer and other systems, reports, procedures, manuals, guidelines and relevant records.
The specific criteria for and issues covered by a performance audit will be governed by the activity or activities to be audited. For example, a performance audit of an EMB’s overall conduct of an election could use the design criteria and address the issues listed in Table 15.
