Each jurisdiction will need to consider best practices that suit its particular circumstances and context, and ensure that the fundamentals of a results process are maintained and that the integrity of the election is not compromised due to deficiencies in the various steps of a results process.
The manual count remains the most common and widespread method of vote counting. However, depending on the general level of development, calculators or computers are used to calculate results, and computers are used for the distribution of seats. For a discussion of machine-assisted vote counting, see Application of Technology.
Social and Political Context
The social and political context is important to consider when choosing an election results system. For example, local political considerations will determine whether it is desirable to sacrifice some accuracy for speedy transmission of provisional results, or whether security should be tight or less restrictive. One of the most important criteria is to ensure that the citizens, political parties and candidates understand the process and have faith in it. In addition, local conditions and recent electoral history can affect the level of anti-fraud measures to be deployed, and determined the place where counting and tabulation of results will take place. If the risk of fraud and intimidation of voters are substantial, the results management system must be designed to overcome these challenges. In addition, if either the EMB’s impartiality or professionalism is in doubt, the results generating process must pay special attention to transparency-promoting actions, as well as plan for an effective training program of all staff categories making up the results system teams at national, regional and local levels.
Security
Security is an important factor in every election, but more so in a country emerging from civil strife. It is important to ensure that every stage in the electoral process, including the crucial results process, is secure, transparent, and reliable. As such, this part of the electoral cycle often warrants special attention in the EMB’s security plan. In its liaison with relevant security providers for the results process, security risks must be identified. Besides voting stations, a sufficient and appropriate security umbrella is also extended to include transportation of sensitive results material and stationary security of counting centres. The National Media Centre, which sometimes doubles up as the EMB’s national results centre, must have special attention given its strategic importance to the results process. Furthermore, this Centre is often frequented by national and international dignitaries requiring a heighten level of security, in addition to a special protocol for VIP delegations arriving with armed close protection teams.
Security permitting may be desirable to hold the count as close to the citizens as possible, for example with a manual count at the voting station level in full view of voters, national and international electoral observers, and party and candidate representatives. If this is not possible due to threat levels directed at the facility, the count could be conducted at ward or district level instead. If there is a possibility of repercussions to the voter for voting in a certain way at voting station level, then the mixing of ballot boxes from different areas before counting could be considered (see Procedures for Vote Counting at Counting Centres).
Security provisions included in legislation and procedures should include security of the vote (and voter) and security of the process. In some countries, the police force is under the command of the EMB during election period while in other societies the standard operating procedures for police is developed in close collaboration between Ministry of Interior and the EMB. An international best praxis is emerging as to the security protocol in voting stations. The local police force, or any security personnel that is responsible for security in election day, is responsible for area security in the vicinity of voting stations and is only allowed inside upon request by a presiding officer, thereby avoiding concerns of potential intimidation of voters by security personnel.
Unless security personnel are formally part of the chain of custody protocol for sensitive election material it should never be left solely in the care of the police or military. Normal praxis is that sensitive material be accompanied at all times by an election official, while political party and candidate representatives and national and international electoral observers can be present.
Legislation should ensure that elections are not jeopardized, even if individual voting stations come under attack, or need to be closed due to fire, flooding, or any other legitimate reasons. Provisions should be made for the speedy rerunning of elections in those stations shortly after the emergency. Protocol on how to proceed in these situations should be part of the EMBs training to electoral officials. In some countries, emergency preparedness is part of the electoral legislation, for example, in the United States; eleven states have emergencies during elections clauses in their legislations[1].
Literacy
Low literacy levels and limited exposure to ICT-solutions are important factors to consider when designing the results system. Where such limitations exist, a simple paper-based results system will facilitate accuracy, but recount and rechecking procedures should still play in integral part of the process. Both information and education material will need to be considerate of illiterate or semi-literate members of the public, to ensure that the electoral messages and information are conveyed to the largest number of members of the public. In addition, party agents and national observers need to be able to understand and follow the results process observed, unless in cases where the transparency could be undermined.
Communication of Results
In an increasingly fast-paced world, election management bodies are feeling the pressure to deliver rapid (if not immediate) transmission of results. Technical innovations in electronic voting, counting, tabulation and transmission are facilitating speedy results. Speed, however, should be carefully balanced against other important considerations such as:
Administrative Considerations
Clear vote counting procedures are instrumental for credible results system. Achieving such an objective often requires essential administrative considerations, such as careful planning thorough training, good facilities, and appropriate equipment. Unfortunately, the results process is often given a lower priority than it deserves. Considering its importance in ensuring confidence in the result of an election is critical to give the results-generating process high administrative priority to ensure success.
What is administratively expedient can vary greatly between countries, not the least due to the EMB’s own organizational structure and capabilities that varies considerably from country to country. In addition, the results management system to be used often depends on the time and resources available, as well as the EMB’s assessment of the results system utilized in the most recent election.
Here are some generic truisms regarding the administrative implications of choices in vote counting procedures:
A complicated results system will have administrative implications in terms of increased training needs, additional personnel, longer hours, more elaborate voter education and public information campaigns, and a proficient command and control capability. Introducing ICT- solutions to a results system often impact across all of the EMB’s departments, as it affects operational planning, procedures and regulations developments, budget (capital and recurrent), new training requirements, changes to public outreach material and potentially the fraud risk profile of the results system.
Infrastructure Requirements
Planning for a results process needs to take into account the available assets in a given country. The infrastructure, such as road network, airport facilities and transportation capabilities within private and public sectors are important factors when developing the operational plan. In some instances the EMB can tap into the motor pools of state institutions, as well as access the defence force’s aircrafts. In other countries, the EMB is largely depending on the private sector. However, accessibility to various parts of a country can vary significantly due to seasonal conditions. During the rainy season, or the winter, the infrastructure situation could be vastly more restrictive than during more favourable parts of the year, something planners must keep in mind.
Given the increasing use of Internet, email and mobile phone services during the results generating process, the availability of various telecommunication networks across a country forms an important part of the results management system. EMBs need to factor in reliability of the networks in question, as Election Day often experiences peak traffic and therefore could prove less reliable than during normal workload when the networks are less stressed.
Availability of electricity can also vary greatly within a country. If procurement of generators is considered as back-up power-source, it can have significant budgetary implications, as generators and fuel need to be procured, service contracts awarded, and transportation obtained.
Election is a national event and often tens of thousands of voting stations are opened. The material used for voting, counting and tabulation is not only numerous but often bulky thereby requiring significant warehousing capacities across the country. Even if the system used is predominately paper-based, the storage specifications are still rigid as water damaged results forms and soaked ballot papers could effectively stop election from moving forward. Depending on the type of results system used, an EMB might also require significant space for its counting and tabulation of results operations should these processes be conducted at constituency or provincial levels. These centres often require a canteen, ablution facilities, praying rooms as well as suitable lighting and temperature enabling a suitable working environment for staff.
Obtaining suitable buildings at sub-national levels can prove challenging in some situations and therefore require significant lead-time, especially if buildings must be refurbished. EMBs introducing ICT-solutions might find server rooms specifications particularly challenging to meet, as such equipment require a controlled environment both in terms of an air-conditioned and dust-free environment.
Media Results Centres have their own requirements, beyond an extra-ordinary strain on electric power and wiring. These centres will cater for 100s of individuals representing political parties, media, observers, VIPs and EMB personnel of which all need access to internet, power, toilets, space to sit and work. The press conference area often requires some refurbishments. In some instance also a catering facility need to be arranged. Telecommunications requirements at such facilities are significant – both cellular phone capacity and Internet connectivity must be significantly increased.
Personnel and Training Requirements
The credibility of any election results process depends largely upon the performance of its staff. The challenge facing an EMB is to identify, recruit, train and supervise a large and diverse set of staffing categories across the width and breadth of a country. As more ICT-equipment and solutions are introduced the recruitment training programs must evolve accordingly. Having said that, irrespective of position to be filled and staff member to train certain fundamentals remain constant. All staff must ensure impartiality, professionalism and integrity, as the services that they will provide are essential to the overall perception of the election results process.
Based on the result system’s operational plan the EMB leadership will determine the types of personnel categories to be hired and the number of positions. Jointly with its Training and Human Resource Departments, and with input from line-departments responsible for the staffing category in question, the EMB develops two important documents: a recruitment plan and training plan.
Recruitment Plan
A recruitment plan often describes how the EMB will ensure a transparent recruitment process resulting in suitable individuals commence work according to timelines outlined in the overarching operational plan. A distinction is often made between filling permanent positions and the many ad-hoc personnel required during an election year. The former process is often significantly more time-consuming and regulated, while hiring temporary workers on short- term contracts often offer more flexibility.
In societies affected by large number of unemployed and a state bureaucracy alleged to hire staff based on patronage EMBs are well-advised to ensure a transparent recruitment process. The commission could advertise widely for the various positions utilizing media and traditional means of disseminating information. Terms of references, qualification requirements, duration and remuneration packages, as well as how to apply are information often included in such communications. As part of its recruitment planning exercise, the EMB needs to figure out how to pay tens of thousands of people in a timely manner. If not, ad hoc workers can threaten to down tools, be demotivated and do a poorly job during election day, or refuse to hand over documents of critical importance to the results process before they are satisfied with the payment and payment mechanism.
Men and women should be recruited on an equal basis, according to their ability to carry out the required duties in an unbiased and professional manner. Other criteria may include speaking at least one of the local languages and previous electoral experience. Special attention should also be made to offer employment to persons with disabilities, or other previously disadvantaged groups.
Some jurisdictions require that voting station staff be qualified voters and/or live within the same electoral district where they will be working on Election Day. These criteria should then be publicized and known to all candidates and political parties involved, in order to preserve the transparency of the process.
In a jurisdiction that is emerging from conflict, these requirements may not always be appropriate and it may be expedient to have people from outside the area working as voting station and counting staff. However, the visiting staff must be properly trained and made aware of social and cultural context. Local customs and circumstances could also impact the recruitment process as men and women traditionally interact in a more formalized setting thereby necessitating teams exclusively made up of men and women-only.
In places where several languages are spoken, it is important to recruit staff with appropriate language skills. Senior students, civil servants, teachers, health workers, and retired people are often recruited because they satisfy these requirements.
Appointment of civil servants can raise questions about whether they are non-partisan, depending on the professional reputation and public perception of the public service, and whether positions are filled on merit or on the basis of partisanship. Even if well-qualified civil servants are recruited, they will still need training in counting procedures and other aspects of their duties in the electoral process.
The electoral laws may restrict who can be recruited as a voting station and/or counting staff and can thereby affect the recruitment plan mentioned above. In some jurisdictions, voting station and/or counting staff are nominated by political parties in proportion to the number of votes or seats won at the previous election. The parties draw up lists and refer the names of acceptable personnel to the responsible local election official.
Workers who are nominated by a political party, but appointed by the local electoral management body, must agree to carry out all their duties in a neutral and non-partisan manner. The Code of Conduct is particularly relevant and important under such regulatory framework. In some countries, persons who are seen to be politically active are not permitted to work as voting station and/or counting officials.
In some countries, the EMBs are legally required to publish the names of presiding officers and poll workers, while in other jurisdictions the EMB voluntarily publishes this information. Publishing names of personnel recruited to perform important tasks in the election results process increases the level of transparency. Furthermore, this gives the general public and other stakeholders an opportunity to inform the EMB about concerns they might have related to certain recruitments. Societies emerging from conflict, the publication of names might be security concern and therefore the integrity and safety of the recruited staff must be weighed against the need for transparency.
Recruiting tens of thousands of ad hoc workers across the country is a daunting challenge for most election authorities. As a result many EMBs often focus on identifying and recruiting the exact amount of workers required. Experiences have shown that EMBs are better served by recruiting an average of ten per cent of the staff needed. Some people will not show up for the training because they are sick or found another job; and in spite of a rigorous screening process a number of individuals will not perform satisfactory during the training and thus are not employable. As the EMB recruited a surplus it will not be forced to resort to emergency trainings in the midst of final preparations for Election Day. In addition, if ad hoc workers know they are not guaranteed a slot on the team they tend to focus more diligently on the training to ensure they pass the test.
Training Plan
The training plan developed for the various processes of the results system incorporates requirements both for affected permanent staff of the EMB, as well as ad hoc personnel. The former training requirements are often part of the long-term human resource efforts to continuously improve officers’ professionalism. However, also permanent EMB officials would require refresher training prior to election as 4-5 years could have passed since the most recent election was held. In general, the more extensive the changes are to the results managements system the more exhaustive the training must be for both permanent and ad hoc workers.
Even if EMBs strive to simplify forms and streamline procedures and regulations elections in general, and election results processes in particular, are often highly structured requiring officials to complete tasks in a specific order and fill out multiple forms correctly. The success of a training program is dependent on the quality of trainers, training methodology applied and training materials used.
Large-scale training programs mostly utilize a cascade-style program based on a train-the-trainer approach. The EMB’s Training Department will train its Masters Trainers who will be responsible for training Trainers in the provinces. These trainers will subsequently be training a vast majority of the ad hoc workers in the field. The cascade-based training program can train very large number of individuals within a relatively short period of time, in some instances 400.000 – 500.000 poll workers are being trained in four weeks.
The main concern raised against the cascade training approach is the difficulty to ensure trainings of sufficient quality. EMB leadership needs to include several management tools enabling them to effectively monitor the training program. Each training must report statistics (number of successfully trained by position and gender, at a minimum). This can be done via a form, phone call or a simple SMS-application. Based on this information the EMB can track if the training is on track, or not. However, unannounced spot-checks at actual trainings continue to be an effective quality control. During these mandatory training sessions ad hoc workers ought to be informed about their Code of Conduct and sign that document, which will be stored by the EMB.
Experiences have shown that hands-on simulations, using the very same materials they will use during the actual work is probably one of the most effective pedagogical techniques to use. By working in smaller groups and actually conducting the very tasks to be performed, trainees are obtaining and retaining the required skill-sets. Combining simulations with interactive lecture-style modules is an efficient method of increasing the success rate of the training. The group-size is often recommended not to exceed thirty, as the interaction of the sessions is hampered when the group-size is larger. In order to standardize certain segments of the training a training video can be produced. It can also be made available online should trainees wish to refresh their minds at a later stage. However, the most common cornerstone of cascade-style training programs is the training manual. As a result, training departments spend a significant amount of time developing manuals that are user-friendly. The language is simple, examples numerous and visual aids included.
One important aspect sometimes overlooked is the importance of pre-testing training programs, including the training manual. EMB officials developing training programs and training tools are often extremely well-versed in the subject matter and can therefore often overlook issues and miss certain challenges that the temporary worker would face as a trainee. It’s therefore advisable to always test the actual training program, materials and tools on the intended target audience before printing tens of thousands of copies of a training manual and order a large number of training kits.
The election results process often rely on non-EMB personnel for parts of the process, such as the security forces for point and area security, as well as during transportation. Therefore, it is often advisable to collaborate with their respective training unit to ensure that the trainings offered to their personnel is in accordance with the rules and regulations governing the results management system process.
[1] National Association of Secretaries of States. "NASS Summary of State Emergency Response Statutes Pertaining to Elections". February 2013. http://www.nass.org/elections-voting/nass-task-force-on-emergency-preparedness-for-elections/
