In a number of countries,
EMBs have included gender provisions in their mission and vision statements,
guiding principles and internal organization goals. In a UNDP survey completed
between 2011 and 2012, analyzing gender equality in 35 EMBs, 23 percent of
surveyed EMBs included gender-related objectives in their strategic and
operational plans.[1]
According to
International IDEA’s 2016 Framework
for Developing Internal Gender Policies for EMBs[2],
these policies can contribute to “make gender equality visible and an integral
aspect in the designing, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting on
internal operations, systems and processes of an EMB”. They contribute to
establishing institutional mechanisms for EMBs to address inequality between
men and women and barriers to their participation in elections. The main goals
of these policies often include building awareness and internal capacities of
EMBs to promote gender equality; integrating the gender approach in the
planning, management and internal systems of EMBs; and ensuring gender balance
in human resources systems, recruitment processes and career development plans.
In certain countries,
EMBs have adopted internal protocols and policies to promote specifically the
participation of transgender voters, with a particular focus on the voter
registration process and identification procedures during Election Day.
Example: In Costa Rica, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has an
Internal Policy for Gender Equality and its action plan is an integral part of the
institution’s annual work plan. The latter establishes specific
responsibilities and resources to achieve the goals of the gender internal
policy and its action plan.[3]
Example: In Nepal, the ECN adopted a Gender and Social Inclusion
Policy in 2013 and a two-year Action Plan for its implementation. In 2015, the
ECN adopted a Gender and Inclusion Strategy for the period 2015-2020, as well
as an Action Plan for the implementation of this Strategy from 2015 to 2018.[4]
Example: The Election Commission of Pakistan’s Strategic Plan for the
period 2010-2014 emphasized the need for gender mainstreaming and included
among its strategic goals the participation of women and other marginalized
groups: “to formulate laws and strictly implement them to ensure that marginalized
groups including women, minorities and persons with disabilities are able to
participate in the political and electoral processes.”[5]
Example: In Sierra Leone, the NEC developed a gender policy in 2014,
which was used to mainstream gender into electoral management, although it was
never formally adopted. In 2018, the NEC adopted a new gender policy for the
period going from 2019 to 2024, based on the 2014 draft and a gender assessment
conducted after the March 2018 elections. The main objective of the gender
policy is to improve women’s participation in politics and elections as voters,
candidates, observers and employees of the NEC. It aims at operationalizing
NEC’s commitments in promoting gender equality, identifying barriers to women’s
participation in the NEC’s operations and services, increasing the proportion
of women employed by the NEC and establishing a long-term framework to
mainstream gender equality in the NEC’s work.[6]
Example: In Liberia, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has a
gender mainstreaming policy that was approved by the Board of Commissioners in
2017 along with an implementation plan containing various strategies.[7]
Example: In Mexico, the National Electoral Institute (Instituto
Nacional Electoral) adopted in 2017 a Protocol to ensure the right to vote for
trans people without discrimination.[8]
This legal instrument, known as the Trans Protocol, establishes guidelines
aiming at promoting the effective participation of trans people as voters
during Election Day, including transgender, transsexual and transvestite
persons. It is addressed to all stakeholders involved in electoral operations
and procedures, including electoral staff, election observers, political
parties’ representatives, polling staff and citizens in general, and it is
applicable to all sorts of elections and citizen participation mechanisms. The
document was developed through consultation mechanisms with trans people and
LGBTI associations. The specific goals of this protocol include the following:
- “Adopt
concrete measures to guarantee that all trans citizens have valid voting
credentials and are correctly registered in the voters’ list […].
- Integrate
inclusion measures in the Electoral
Training and Assistance Strategy […] to guarantee equal treatment and no
discrimination in the exercise of the right to vote of trans people during
Election Day.
- Provide
information and suggestions that contribute to the sensitization and capacity
building of electoral staff, political parties, independent candidates and citizens
acting as polling officers […].
- Contribute
to eliminate all sorts of barriers that restrict in practice the right to vote
of trans people, including those of normative, attitudinal, procedural,
material and communicational nature.
- Inform
through an outreach campaign that trans people can update their data and
photography on the Federal Registry of Electors.”
The following graphic
resource describes the main aspects of the INE’s Trans Protocol,
notably concrete measures to ensure that transgender persons can cast their
vote effectively on Election Day, the proper registration of related incidents,
a training strategy to inform electoral staff and polling station members about
the implications of the Protocol, and an outreach campaign to inform
transgender voters and the general public on these improvements.
For more information on
this topic, please see the ACE Project consolidated reply “EMBs
with gender policies.”
[1]
UNDP
and UN Women (2012): “Survey on Gender Mainstreaming in Electoral Management
Bodies”.
[3] UNDP and UN Women (2016): op. cit., p. 23.
[4] Information submitted by
UNDP’s electoral assistance Project in Nepal in July 2018.
[5] UNDP and UN Women (2016): op. cit., p. 23.
[6] National Electoral
Commission of Sierra Leone (2018): “Gender Policy.”
[7] Information submitted by
UNDP’s electoral assistance Project in Liberia in July 2018.
