What is sustainability?

Despite the axiom that ‘you can’t put a price on democracy’, making democratic elections more sustainable is a principle that should be embraced by all EMBs. The need for cost reductions in elections results from the rising costs of election goods and services — including the use of new technologies, dwindling public-sector budgets, the increasing frequency of elections for different levels of political institutions and the tough competition among poorer countries to access international donor funding. The euphoria surrounding a successful, well-funded transitional election needs to be tempered by the reality that similar levels of funding may not be available for future elections.

In the context of elections, sustainability refers to electoral policies and practices that are cost effective and realistic, and meet the needs of stakeholders in the electoral processes both now and in the future. Sustainability aims to minimize reliance on external inputs and resources. EMB sustainability is not defined only in financial terms; it also includes the social and political returns on its activities. For example, a post-conflict country may use expensive voting systems and procedures that may not be sustainable in economic terms, but that may be politically essential in the short term to build trust among stakeholders and lasting peace and stability in the country.

There are several elements to EMB sustainability:

1. An EMB has institutional sustainability if its structures and processes enable it to fulfill its mandate and responsibilities over a series of elections. This type of sustainability refers to the adequacy of the electoral framework — the constitution, electoral law and regulations, and administrative and other policies — to allow the EMB to carry out its work effectively and efficiently.
2. An EMB has financial and economic sustainability if the nature and level of its funding and expenditure are adequate to fulfill its institutional mandate and responsibility.
3. An EMB has human resource sustainability if it is able to engage sufficient and appropriately skilled staff to manage and implement its systems and procedures.
4. Other forms of EMB sustainability include socio-political and environmental factors, for example, the extent to which EMB policies and practices promote social equality and political inclusion, minimize conflict and promote environmental sustainability.