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.”