Political parties often play a watchdog role during the electoral period and are responsible for monitoring procedures and operations of the voting process, checking for irregularities, such as vote buying, intimidation of voters, ballot fraud and poor organization. Political parties recruit and train party agents, and they can seek to make sure that women are well represented in this process. Also, checklists used by party monitors can include gender-focused questions to assess existing barriers to women’s participation as voters and candidates.[1]