The practical implementation of external voting is complicated by factors such as the number of electors, their locations, the distances involved and the complexity of the voting system in place. Election planning becomes a two-tiered process as the tasks involved in organizing an election in-country are duplicated, under very different circumstances, for the external voting.

At each stage of the external electoral process, emphasis must be placed on implementing procedures and processes that are not only faithful to the legislation but also as close as possible to those in place for in-country voters. All electors must have access to a similar registration and polling process, no matter where they are located. Administrative creativity and flexibility are needed, but the process must always be in accordance with the law.

The problems of implementation will vary depending on the methods of registration and voting, the geographical distribution of expatriates and the political situation (e.g. during a transition after violent conflict). In all cases, security and privacy are central to the process, whether voting is done in person, by post, by proxy (essentially an internal process) or by electronic means. Many groups of external electors (such as refugee populations) may be vulnerable to intimidation and will need assurances that they are protected by the secrecy built in to the process. Other groups (e.g. military serving outside the home country and members of the diplomatic community) will have more confidence in the system but will expect the same protection.

In first or transitional elections, the political players will watch the external voting with suspicion. If any political force is seeking a reason to challenge the results of an election, anomalies in the external voting can often be pointed out to justify any complaints. For this reason, the planning for external voting requires a carefully integrated approach to ensure that it is as transparent and administratively correct as the internal voting.

Administrative problems or delays in the external voting are often viewed as deliberate acts of fraud by an incumbent government or even by the election management body (EMB). ‘Transition elections should be viewed as accidents waiting to happen at the intersection between political suspicion and administrative incapacity. Every administrative problem is interpreted by one side as designed by its opponent to do it harm’ (Pastor 1999). This is particularly true for external voting. It is important to eliminate any potential cause for suspicion when planning the implementation of external voting.

Finally, disputes and complaints will need to be resolved quickly and fairly. All participants in the electoral process must have the right to appeal to an independent, impartial body. Procedures need to be established for the appeal process to ensure it is accessible for the external electors and within the election timeline. All complaints will need to be dealt with in an equitable and timely manner.