Collecting and disseminating
sex-disaggregated data is a key task for inclusive election management, since
it allows EMBs to assess gender balance in the electoral process and to better
plan their strategies and policies. However, data on the gender composition of
registered voters, voters who actually casted their votes on Election Day,
registered candidates and electoral staff at all levels is not always
available. Data gathering design and processes should consider the gender
dimension from the beginning, including a “sex” or “gender” category as one of
the data fields and recording it at the time of data collection, since revising
large amounts of data at a later stage would most likely increase associated
costs. Through training initiatives, EMBs can strengthen the capacities of
staff and election officials to collect sex-disaggregated data.[1]
Example: In Burundi, the Independent National Electoral Commission
(CENI) developed a tool for collecting and analyzing sex-disaggregated data,
with support from UN Women. EMB staff was trained on the use of this tool
during a BRIDGE workshop in 2014.[2]
Example: In Ethiopia, the post-election evaluation of the 2010
general election assessed the level of women’s participation as voters,
electoral officers, observers and candidates, including sex-disaggregated data
in all these areas.[3]
Example: In Liberia, the National Elections Commission’s (NEC)
datacenter generates sex-disaggregated data, which becomes available on the NEC
website. It is currently available for the 2011-2017 voter registration
process. On Election Day, polling staff complete a sex-disaggregated form that
is later delivered to the tabulation center together with the results, which
guarantees availability of sex-disaggregated data on the voter turnout right
after Election Day.[4]
Example: In Canada, Elections Canada (EC) maintains the National
Register of Electors, a permanent, continually updated database of Canadians
who are qualified to vote in federal elections and referendums. It contains the
name, address, gender and date of birth of each elector and is used to create
voter lists at the beginning of federal elections and referendums. Although the
register is not public, it allows EC to provide sex-disaggregated data on
turnout after each election. Data for the 2011 and 2015 general elections is
currently available online.[5]
Example: In Nepal, gender-disaggregated data is available for voter
turnout and the voter registration process, which is conducted under three
categories: “male”, “female” and “third gender”. During the 2017 national-level
elections 15.42 million Nepali voters casted their vote, from which 7.77
million were men and 7.65 million were women. At the time, there were 167 third
gender voters registered in the voter list.[6]
For more information on
this topic, please see related content of the ACE Project, including:
[1] UNDP and UN Women (2016): op. cit., p. 45.
[2] UNDP and UN Women (2016):
op. cit., p. 49.
[3] UNDP and UN Women
(2016): op. cit., p. 49.
[4] Information submitted by
UNDP’s electoral assistance project in Liberia in July 2018.
[5] Information submitted by
Elections Canada in July 2018.
[6]
Information
submitted by UNDP’s electoral assistance Project in Nepal in July 2018.
