The framing of a mission for voter education, or the parameters of a particular programme, require all election stakeholders to understand and adhere to the underlying principles of free and fair elections. In order for the voters to accept the outcome and to confer contingent consent on the victors, they must believe that the election was conducted freely and fairly. In order for this to happen, all stakeholders must collaborate in establishing and maintaining a transparent and orderly set of accepted rules and practices and in developing election etiquette and conduct, even when unwritten, that support these rules.
Of course there are stakeholders who may have no interest in the outcome of an election, save that it has expressed the will of the people, or the electorate. But parties, other political factions and individual voters will all have an interest in the competition for power. These may include civil society educators and organisations. Eligible citizens are expected to fulfill their legal right to vote and to make an informed choice about their political future.
It may be argued that this competition makes it impossible for anyone to behave collaboratively in favour of the process rather than the outcome. In such a circumstance, perhaps the best that can be hoped for is self-interested vigilance. But even such self-interest results in collaborative behaviour, if not collaborative motivations. If even this cannot be obtained, then elections often must be conducted by outside organisations or bodies. And there are ample precedents where national and organisational elections have been conducted on such a basis.
Such an arrangement is not sustainable in the long run, and all countries espousing democracy must develop strategies to motivate collaborative behaviour between citizens and their political parties and representatives. In order to conduct voter education programmes, such behaviour must extend to the development of a voter education mission that is isolated from party propaganda.
Voters Key to the Interests of Candidates
It is in the candidates' interests that voters are well informed and prepared, well motivated and critical in their choices. It is in their interests that there is a large voter turnout and that the election results reflect the will of the people. In this process, and in the acceptance of the outcome, the individual voter is important, and education for all those voters, the electorate, is a major component in achieving it.
