International long-term observers and core team members may
stay on for weeks after voting ends. After releasing a preliminary statement
within several days of voting, LTOs and staff work on a longer and more
detailed comprehensive final report that incorporates analysis of pre-election
conditions, voting procedures, and post-election developments, including
electoral dispute resolution, post-election violence, and political dialogue.
Most organizations issue these reports within two to three months of the
elections. Many also send post-election delegations to convene stakeholders for
roundtable discussions of its mission’s recommendations.[i]
Some national organizations stop working on electoral issues
after election day, but others engage in the post-election period and begin
preparing for the next pre-electoral period (which might be four/five years
away). These organizations, like international observation mission will often
issue reports and recommendations.
The focus on international obligations to which states have
committed by ratifying international treaties alters the relationship between
citizen observers and the state. Citizen
observers can help the state to better fulfill its own human rights obligations
through their recommendations on the electoral process and increased attention
on following up with implementing recommendations. As the Declaration of Global
Principles states, the transmission of recommendations to the relevant
stakeholders is now possibly the most significant contribution of citizen
observers to the electoral process. These recommendations should form the basis
of any future programs advocating for reform or for electoral assistance.
Recommendations should be constructive and framed in a
manner that will help the referenced stakeholder to better abide by the
country’s obligations. Recommendations must be useful, realistic and achievable
in order to gain acceptance and stand a chance of being implemented. CSOs
should discuss them with different stakeholders throughout the process to
increase their chances of acceptance and implementation. Tracking
implementation may allow them to expand their scope of operations beyond
election day. The ACE Network website has useful content for national observers
working in this field.[ii]
Advocacy for electoral reform is one domain where several
national observer groups and coalitions, such as the Lebanese Association for
Democratic Elections (LADE),[iii]
or the Nigerian Transition Monitoring Group (TMG)[iv]
as well GONG[v]
in Croatia and the Centre for Electoral Reform (CETRO)[vi]
in Indonesia have been working fairly successfully. In terms of national
ownership of recommendations and as advocates of reform, they can be key agents
of dialogue and national democratic promotion. International donors can
facilitate citizen groups’ progressive expansion of responsibilities in this
domain. The renewed interest and focus on recommendations and follow-up by
international observer groups should be paired with greater technical
assistance and funds for national observers.
CSOs engaging in national electoral observation can carry
out extremely valuable exercises in terms of political party finance monitoring—a
key tool in the fight against corruption which can compromise the genuine
nature of electoral processes. Organizations such as Poder Ciudadano[vii]
in Argentina and Acción Ciudadana[viii]
in Guatemala are among many that have committed to this particular watchdog
role. Their presence throughout the electoral cycle enables them to carry out
such monitoring far more effectively than their international counterparts.
Increased cooperation with international observer groups can enhance the impact
of their work in this field. The development of crowdsourcing tools can also be
usefully tailored for political finance monitoring.
Citizen observer groups can also present their findings
related to the enjoyment of rights contained in the relevant treaties before
treaty bodies, which issue authoritative interpretations and can receive
complaints from individuals and civil society organizations, generating
considerable jurisprudence on various electoral matters.[ix]
In the case of civil and political rights, the CCPR is the appropriate forum.
More significantly, if a particular state is a party to the ICCPR’s First
Optional Protocol,[x]
the CCPR is competent to receive and consider complaints from individuals and
organizations alleging violations of ICCPR rights in cases where national
remedies have been exhausted. This provides citizen observer groups with the
potential to take their watchdog role beyond the national-level in order to
seek appropriate remedies and contribute to further developments in
international jurisprudence.
As noted by the UN Secretary-General in 1997, “There are already many cases
in which the organizations that observe elections redefine their functions so
as to continue observing the behavior of the elected officials and the
fulfillment of election promises.”[xi]
Indeed, Eric Bjornlund signals that, “international advisors and donors too
often fail to recognize the most important benefits of domestic election
monitoring and adopt strategies that work against efforts to sustain domestic
networks and the momentum for reform after elections.”[xii]
[i]
“NDI’s Comprehensive Approach to International Election Observation,” in e-mail
to author, 6.
[ii]
ACE Tracking of Recommendations Database, available at:
http://aceproject.org/electoral-advice/dop/recommendations, accessed on 6 July
2014.
[vi]
CETRO is the ACE Regional Centre for South East Asia, its webpage was not
active at the time of writing but additional information can be found on the
ACE Electoral Knowledge Network webpage.
[vii] Poder Ciudadano webpage.
[viii] Acción Ciudadana webpage.
[ix]
Jurisprudence from UN treaty-bodies can be found
on the webpage of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
(which also hosts a general database on UN treaty-body jurisprudence), the
webpage of the Centre for Civil and Political Rights and the webpage of the
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library.
[x]
1976 Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. The status
of ratifications for treaties and protocols can be accessed on the webpage of
the United Nations Treaty Collection.
[xi]
UN Doc. A/52/513, Report of the Secretary-General,
“Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote
and consolidate new or restored democracies” 1997, 21 October 1997, para.
30.
[xii]
Bjornlund; E.C., “Transition Elections as End or
Means? Lessons for Democracy Assistance from Domestic Election Monitoring”, in
McMahon and Sinclair (eds), Democratic Institution performance, Praeger, 2002,
p. 5.
