To ensure that voting operations is undertaken with integrity, equity to all voters, and consistency in all voting locations, the voting framework need to be clearly defined in legislation. The balance between legal or regulatory constraints and issues that can be left to policy decisions of the electoral management body will vary in different environments. Governing legislation fr voting operations will need to be comprehensive particularly in situations:
- where electoral management control is fragmented,
- potentially subject to political influence, or
- inexperienced,
Generally speaking, the more issues left for electoral management body policy determination, the greater the flexibility of responses to meet changes in the environment. The greater the detail in legal or regulatory frameworks, the easier it may be to enforce consistency in voting operations.
Voting Procedures
The procedures to be used for voting provide the operational focus for voting operations management. All other actions hinge on the need to ensure that these are implemented effectively. Basic requirements for voting procedures are that they:
• Are sufficiently simple to be understood by voters;
• Provide cost-effective accessibility to voting for all people eligible to vote;
• Are reliable and provide sufficient integrity to withstand challenges.
The combination of appropriate voting methods will vary in different environments. Apart from normal voting day procedures, implementation of various types of special voting facilities can assist participation, for voters who, for example, are away from their electoral district where they are registered on voting day, are ill or infirm, or who live in remote areas.
(Detailed information on voting procedures can be found in Voting Procedures and its linked articles)
Stability of Voting Frameworks
To enhance efficiency and cost-effectivness of administration and to increase preformance in voting operations, hanges in voting frameworks may be necessary(see Guiding Principles of Voting Operations In some environments, where past electoral practices have been discriminatory, or lacking in professionalism, integrity, security and accessibility for all voters, radical changes may be required. All changes to voting frameworks should be preceded by rigorous cost-benefit analysis.
Care has to be taken that change is not introduced where there is the potential to confuse voters is high. Significant advantages can be gained by maintaining some stability in the frameworks used for voting. Where these have a consistent basis from election to election, familiarities of electoral officers and voters with the required procedures result in more effective voting operations.
Election Observation
Election observation by independent groups, either local or internationally sponsored, and monitoring of election processes by representatives of parties and candidates aid transparency of voting operations and can assist in identifying errors, omissions, and inequities in voting frameworks and their implementation.
Use of Technology
There are a number of technological developments--in printing techniques, new uses of materials, and computer applications and telecommunications links for voting--that can continue to expand the possibilities of voting operations.
The expertise is in selecting reliable technological solutions that actually add value to the efforts of election administrators--solutions that are appropriate for the geographic, electoral, cultural environments, and the support infrastructure. In many cases simpler, more old-fashioned solutions continue to be more cost-effective. (Discussion of some current issues in this regard can be found in Elections and Technology )
