The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (Alihodzic and Asplund 2013b) has conceptualised a three-layered approach for prevention and mitigation of election-related violence:

1. Improved electoral management and justice: specific electoral planning, implementation and dispute resolution strategies that can be used to avoid controversies, fraud and technical flaws, in order to minimise the potential for outbreaks of violence.
2. Improved electoral security: specific electoral security measures that can be undertaken by SSAs throughout the electoral cycle to protect electoral actors, events, facilities and materials from violence.
3. Improved infrastructure for peace: putting in place standing capacities for peacebuilding and prevention, from the community to the national level, which can employ strategies to address conflict drivers, and coordinate and mobilise state and non-state actors, CSOs, traditional and religious leaders, reputable individuals and other organisations and individuals with capacity to contribute to preventing and defusing election-related tensions.

The three-layered approach can be applied consistently throughout the eight different phases of the electoral cycle,[1] as follows.