Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) can legitimately be constituted in a non-partisan way, in a multi-partisan way, or through a mixture of both. The same holds true for boundary delimitation committees. The type chosen determines the extent to which political parties and candidates are involved.
- Non-partisan Electoral Management Bodies
In non-partisan EMBs, political parties and candidates have no representation. The persons on the board are there in their capacity as election administrators, trusted public figures, election experts, or other professionals seen as impartial and independent of political powers.
- Multi-partisan Electoral Management Bodies
Many countries, especially those that experienced difficult transitions from authoritarian rule to multiparty democracy, have opted to use what are called multiparty-based or partisan EMBs. The fight against authoritarianism in these countries may have polarised society to the extent that it is difficult to find public figures widely accepted as ‘independent’ to serve on the EMB for a transitional election. Multiparty EMBs comprise a mixture of political party nominees and may also include some technocrats, such as judges, academics, and career public servants.
There is a belief among some electoral analysts that having political party representatives on the EMB engenders consensus among actors in the electoral contest and contributes to enhanced transparency, all of which lead to improved confidence in the electoral process. On the other hand, a political party-based EMB can imperil or cripple decision-making, especially in situations where vital party interests are at stake and members are unwilling to reach workable compromises. The presence of politicians on the EMB may undermine confidentiality in matters such as the security of balloting materials. Multiparty-based EMBs also tend to generate dissatisfaction, especially among minority parties which might be excluded from sitting on the EMB, either because they are not represented in parliament or they did not participate in the negotiation leading to the initial appointments of EMB members.[1]
- Mixed Electoral Management Bodies
Some electoral legal frameworks specify that the EMB’s members should be partly drawn from independent experts and partly from appointments by political parties. This may merge advantages from both models, producing even-handed bodies that have both political party buy-in and transparency in operations.
This ‘mixed’ model can be implemented in various ways. For instance, a standing EMB made up of 5 members of the legal profession could be augmented for election periods by 3 members of each of the majority and opposition blocs in parliament, all with equal voting rights. Thus only if opposing political tendencies agree can the independent members be outvoted. Another option could be that the EMB is a permanent body comprising 8 expert members, with a representative of each parliamentary group in the legislature and of each national political party as non-voting members.
