It is useful to consolidate some of the factors that are of
particular importance for organizing cost-effective voting operations
in developing countries.
Many of these are concerned with how best to attain voting operations’ principles and objectives (see Guiding Principles of Voting Operations)
with lower levels of local resources and in environments where there is
limited experience in managing accessible and transparent voting
operations.
In developing societies, there are likely to be a number of factors
that will require greater attention during voting operations planning
and implementation than in developed societies. These would include:
• less in-house resources within the electoral management body, and
a potential need to ensure transparency and integrity issues where
other resources of other state organizations are required for voting
operations tasks. (See Transparency and Integrity below);
• ensuring that voting operations methods and procedures provide sustainable solutions. (See Sustainability below);
• taking advantage of opportunities for development provided by
materials production, staff training, introduction of technology. (for
voting operation purposes,See Sustainability below);
• developing voting operations strategies that are appropriate for the literacy levels in the community. (See Literacy below);
• ensuring that local resource capacities, in terms of
infrastructure and skills available, are carefully considered in voting
operations planning. (See Infrastructure and skills base below);
• ensuring that procedures, materials and equipment used are
suitable for the local environment. (See Procedures, materials and
equipment below).
Traditional Societies
In more traditional societies there may be specific issues to be
addressed--in training staff, revealing voting processes and in voting
site layout and management - that require a balance between cultural
sensitivity and maintaining the democratic model of a transparent
voting process that protects the secrecy of the vote.
The integration of traditional leaders into voting operations
processes, perhaps through accommodation within the system of
representation or accessing their skills in information or
administration roles, may be important for the success of voting
operations.
In societies where the notion of individual secret decision-making
(voting) has not been the norm, or where voting is traditionally a male
preserve, enhanced measures may be required in relation to issues such
as:
• promoting the employment of women in information, training and voting station staffing or voter assistance roles;
• voting station layouts that ensure and protect secret individual voting;
• creation of special voting locations and/or time schedules for particular community groups.
Transparency and Integrity
In less developed communities, effective use of available local
resources for voting operations may require considerable sharing of
responsibilities and resources with other state agencies.
In such cases care needs to be taken that the management of voting
operations, is distinct from politically controlled civil service
bodies. Wherever possible there should be a separation of premises,
reporting systems, management control, and financial appropriations
used for voting operations.
It is highly preferable that State agencies whose resources are used
for voting operations are under formal, performance-oriented contract
to the electoral management body for their services, and are bound by
the electoral management body's administrative code of conduct.
Good practice requires that electoral management bodies are able to
terminate the contracts or suspend the assistance from State agencies
if the performance level agreement or administrative code of conduct is
not adhered to. (For further discussion of voting operations
responsibilities. See The Electoral Management Structure and the Delivery of Voting Operations)
Sustainability
Role for International Assistance: With regard to elections it
emphasizes the key issue of sustainability, that is, how best to use
local resources and any available international assistance to develop a
voting operations fabric that is self-regenerating for future elections.
Many sustainability issues are as relevant to countries at a higher
stage of development emerging from less-democratic regimes as they are
to developing countries.
International political agendas may lead to an election,
particularly where a transition to democracy is involved and the
society has emerged from a protracted conflict receiving international
assistance and extensive media attention, with no guarantee of future
assistance due to changing priorities for donor communities and donor
neglect.
Typically such elections will involve extensive monetary and
technical assistance in a relatively short and unrealistic voting
operations timetable.
This is often the result of using an election as the primary
conflict resolution mechanism and where an election is deemed to be an
effective indicator of democracy. The short period involved will often
lead to the imposition of high-cost solutions not locally sustainable.
It may lead to raised expectations from the community for all state
operations that cannot be met, as well as opportunities for corruption.
Rather than imposing high-cost and unsustainable "perfect" solutions
from external environments or organizations, the key to developing
longer-term effective voting operations solutions in lesser developed
or transitional societies is in :
• providing assistance suitable to the local environment's needs and which promotes the growth of local capabilities;
• accepting that these may not initially produce a flawless election.
Opportunities for Development
Voting operations offer a number of opportunities for increasing
local capacities in developing countries. Implementation of voting
operations systems and methods without considering whether a local
skill base has been developed to allow them to be maintained and
operated for other functions or future elections is a wasteful use of
scarce resources.
There are some basic guidelines that, if followed, can maximize sustainable benefits:
Use any available technical assistance programmes for voting
operations in longer term skills transfer projects: rather than as
short term operational staff substitutes. Without such skill transfer,
there will be a continuing need for assistance at future elections.
Skills transfer should aim at covering a broader area: than just
election technical matters. The inclusion of staff at local levels in
generic skills training in general management, basic accounting and
finance, equipment maintenance and operation, ethical conduct --all
integral to voting operations--is of continual community benefit.
Less technologically intensive methods: particularly if aimed at
inclusion of previously excluded members of society, can produce
broader based positive effects.
Only where necessary for election integrity or performance should
methods, other than those that are simple, easily trainable and able to
be applied under conditions of lower technology and resource bases, be
used.
Consider whether equipment and systems introduced for voting
operations can have continued community use: Can communications systems
be operated on a continuing basis for the benefit of the community? Is
the investment in technological equipment and methods justified by its
being suitable for integration with or augmentation of existing
systems? Can the technology be used for implementation of other social
programmes?
Acquiring equipment and technology for sole and infrequent use at
elections can be a poor investment when resources in general are very
limited.
When considering appropriate equipment and technologies,
Consider how much of a technological leap is involved: Local
maintenance expertise (either existing or specifically trained) must be
available for effective future use.
Consider carefully the benefits of foreign procurement: Are any
immediate technological, cost or quality benefits sufficient to
outweigh the resource-building effects of developing local facilities
and capabilities?
When implementing voting operations methods, first have a skills
maintenance plan: If equipment is not used between elections, skills
gained, and the use of the equipment for other functions, will be lost.
If staffs employed in voting operations have no continuing framework
in which to practice their skills, or communication with voting
operations management, the expense of training will be of limited
benefit to the community at large.
Literacy
Considerations for Semi-literate or Illiterate Communities:
Population literacy levels will have a important impact on the design
of voting operations materials, voting station procedures, voter
information communication strategies, and staff recruitment and
training methods. In areas of lower literacy the emphasis needs to be
on direct and practical communication methods, which need not come at a
high cost.
Voting material needs to take into account people who are unable to
mark ballot papers and who are unable to complete and sign
documentation and allow alternative methods of attesting information on
voter identity cards, candidate nomination forms, challenges to voters,
provisional or early voting documents, receipts of materials and
similar official documents.
For lower literacy communities ballot design requires communication of the voters' choices through:
• uncluttered layout;
• design that visually emphasizes where to place any required voting marks;
• use of images rather than words.
Use of distinctive party symbols (reinforced during community voter
information campaigning) is generally more cost effective than
reproducing candidate photographs or photographs of the leaders of
political parties on ballots.
The election system itself can assist successful voting operations
in semi-literate or illiterate communities by adopting simple systems
requiring only one mark (list or First Past The Post) on the ballot, or
by using differentiated separate voting papers or tokens for different
candidates. If simultaneous elections for more than one representative
body are being held, use of distinctively colored or different sized
ballots will enable voters to comprehend them.
For semi-literate and illiterate communities, assisted voting
procedures and voter training in voting stations through practice runs
and simulation need careful consideration. In such communities, voting
station staff may also need to be increased in relation to the number
of voters.
Visual aids to voting--illustrated guides to how to obtain a ballot
paper, mark it, and deposit it in the ballot box--prominently displayed
around the voting station assists semi-literate and illiterate voters
to understand the voting process. The use of a single ballot box,
rather than multiple boxes, for any simultaneous elections will also
simplify voting for the illiterate people. Voter information should
emphasis material that is not written. This can be accomplished, for
example, through:
• grass roots community activity, involving community leaders in
transmitting voting information through local public meetings; use of
street theatre, music and radio;
• conducting voting simulations (perhaps as an adjunct to local
voting station staff training sessions) where voters can practise for
voting day)
Staff Training
While literacy and numeracy would be basic requirements for
recruitment of electoral officers, there may be communities where the
need to use local electoral officers is important, yet literacy levels
are not high.
In such cases election forms must have clear, simply illustrated
instructions for use, and training should be based on simulation
exercises of the roles of the different staff in voting operations.
Emphasis must be placed on the completion of any necessary forms.
Providing all staff with a simple cue card, with clear visual
representations of the functions that they have to undertake is an
effective training mechanism
Infrastructure and Skills Base
Limited local transport and insufficient production infrastructure
may require earlier production or acquisition of materials and
equipment, requiring care in developing realistic voting operations
time lines and calendars.
Basic decisions need to be made on whether lower technology levels
and possibly longer production lead times available locally provide
acceptable solutions to voting operations needs.
In considering external sourcing, potentially negative impact could result from:
• long supply lines;
• little opportunity to oversee production;
• lack of internal resource building;
• establishing possible future external dependence;
• perhaps using scarce foreign currency.
An objective appraisal needs to be undertaken of the benefit
external outsourcing would add to voting operations effectiveness,
compared to alternatives that could be provided by current local
facilities or with external technical assistance to local producers.
Transport
Where transport equipment stock is poor or transport routes are in
bad condition, using armed forces transport capacities can be an
efficient, and in some cases the only, solution to supplying all voting
sites.
However where armed forces have had a historic or current political
role, using them for transport of voting material can lead to
perceptions or suspicions of them manipulating the process. These can
be partially overcome by instituting strict dispatch and receipt checks
on voting materials by the electoral management body and independent or
political participant monitoring of these activities.
Voting Premises
The use of temporary structures or mobile voting stations may also
need to be considered if the building stock, particularly in rural
areas, is not sufficiently developed for use as voting stations, where
distances are vast or where decision-making is traditionally an open
air activity.
Depending on resources available these could be a simple as shade
cloth strung between trees; in environments where armed forces are
assisting with logistics more complex or elaborate solutions can
provide secure, sturdy temporary voting sites.
This might include airlift or road transport of large containers
with all voting station equipment and material. Additionally, upgrading
existing buildings for voting operations purposes may provide
opportunities, through the security and facilities needs of voting
station or warehouse sites, to improve their general usefulness to the
community.
Communications
Due to the dispersed nature of voting sites, communications for
voting operations can be a problem in lesser-developed communities
without extensive communications networks.
Installing new networks that provide communication with all voting
sites can be expensive. The accessibility of required communication
will be very much determined by security risk assessments and reporting
speed requirements.
This is one area where cooperative ventures between electoral
management bodies and other agencies may be necessary, for example in;
• using existing national communications networks and sitting voting locations accordingly;
• developing networks flexibly to allow joint financing and satisfaction of common needs.
In many developing countries armed forces communications networks
have the greatest capacity; flexibility and coverage. Similar
reservations about their use, however, may exist as for logistical
assistance. Enhancing communications may be a useful priority for
international electoral aid funding.
Provision of viable civilian communications networks, which will
have continuing usefulness, is a more positive contribution to
sustainable development than using external voting operations
assistance funds for functions such as producing multi-colour print
ballot papers on high quality security print paper.
Many of those using communication systems in voting stations or in
voting operations communications centres may never have had to use
similar systems previously for formal communication. There may be a
need to train people in such techniques as telephone or fax use.
Professional Skills
The increase in volume and range of workloads during voting
operations may require enlistment of professional staff either from
other sectors of the local economy (which may place strains on goal
achievement in these areas), or external technical assistance.
The more complex the voting operations system and procedures, the
more likely that the additional professional skills required may not be
found locally.
In developing countries it is important that engagement of
additional professional skills is used as an opportunity for management
skills transfer to develop the voting operations capacities of the
electoral management body, rather than being treated simply as a
dispersal of functions.
Staff Recruitment
The use of existing disciplined and skilled workforces for some
vital voting operations tasks can provide greater assurances of
quality, and be cost-effective. Some areas where this can be considered
are the use of:
• teachers, both for training voting station staff and as managers of voting stations;
• senior students as voting station staff;
• state employees such as warders for packing election materials;
• penal institution workshops for production of equipment such as ballot boxes, locks and seals.
The use of such state institutions and employees in voting
operations roles may be problematic where they are generally perceived
to be biased towards the state.
Even in these situations, it can be as effective, and less costly,
to ensure that their actions are monitored by political participants
and independent observers (for which some external training assistance
may be necessary), and an effective redress system is in place, rather
than initiate new administrative and production structures.
Management Skills Training
The overall management of voting operations is a skilled function in both the technical and general management areas.
Training of voting operations managers in general management skills
is a widely applicable and important part of using external technical
assistance for local resource building. This can occur through exposure
to:
• management planning
• staff recruitment and management
• resource mobilization methods
• materials handling
• accounting principles and practices
• procurement practices
• accountability principles
• conflict resolution
Such transferred skills are portable across most public and commercial sectors.
General Skill Development
The large volume of staff required for voting operations at local
levels provides opportunities for empowerment, both through general
development of skill levels and use of recruitment strategies to assist
in redressing gender or minority imbalances.
Many of the base level skills required at the voting operations and
voting station level are highly transportable, such as, materials
management, conflict resolution, maintenance of accurate records, and
use of telecommunications or radio equipment. Training of local voting
operations staff can assist local development in general.
Training programmes for voting operations staff, particularly in
areas of low literacy, need careful attention in both goals and
methods. Breaking down voting station staff roles into discrete work
units, and training staff for a limited number of these, can be more
effective.
Training methodology can be more effective if role playing and
simulation are used, with illustrated reference cards and posters
retained by voting station staff, rather than relying on written
materials and lectures, especially in areas of illiteracy or semi-
literacy.
Procedures, Materials and Equipment
Functionality: It is important that materials and equipment are
functional in the environments in which they are to be used, simple in
construction, easily maintained, and readily understood both by staff
and voters. High-cost materials and equipment may provide only
marginal, if any, improvement over lower-cost items, even though they
may promote a more exclusive image for the electoral management body
and international donors.
Use of technology should be appropriate for the level of training
and equipment maintenance that can be achieved in lower-technology
environments. The following issues require careful consideration.
Physical and Political Conditions
The physical and political conditions to be endured will
significantly impact the development of viable procedures. Whether
voting sites are enclosed or in the open, whether materials are likely
to be subject to humidity, dust, cold, or rain, whether security risks
have been found, all will determine the durability and security
required for voting equipment and materials.
In rural areas such condition will have particular impact as back-up facilities and skills may not be available.
Examples would include:
• Cardboard ballot boxes over time may be less costly than metal or
rigid plastic, but may be destroyed or affected under conditions of
high humidity or rain--high strength plastic bags may be a better,
cheap option.
• In dusty or humid conditions, smart adhesive labels can be both
more costly and less-effective than old-fashioned writing directly on
materials containers.
Availability of Power and Lighting
Where reliable power is not available, the comparative costs of
alternative solutions--both monetary as well as in terms of
integrity--need careful assessment in each environment. Solutions may
entail:
• limiting voting operations to daylight hours, which may entail
additional costs in providing more voting locations or multi-day
voting;
• provision of mobile generators to voting sites, if they are available and can be maintained during voting;
• provision of emergency lighting equipment (candles, gas lamps), which may entail additional safety or training requirements.
In such circumstances the reliance that can be placed on reporting
systems based on electronic equipment, and whether counting is better
done at central locations, also needs careful consideration.
Monitoring Capacities
The skills and availability of independent observers and party or
candidate representatives will influence the intensity of voting
operations security and accountability mechanisms, as well as the
materials design for these.
Form Numbers and Design
The numbers and design of forms and other documents that have to be
completed by voting station staff and other officials can be a crucial
issue, particularly in societies with lower literacy See Literacy
above.
A proliferation of forms can test both the patience and skill of
less experienced voting station staff, and incorrect or incomplete
documents can affect perceptions of election validity. And as the
complexity and volume of forms increase, so do election costs. Minimal
form requirements relate to:
• accountability for voting materials (receipt, use during voting, unused)
• financial accountability (staff attendance and reporting, petty expenditure) and
• recording of complaints, objections and disputes.
Voting operations systems that require more complex recording at the
voting station may not be as appropriate in developing societies.
