Effective and efficient management of expenditure planning is crucial in any election there fore financial arrangements for voting operations must ensure that:
• sufficient funds are available for the required activities;
• there are adequate controls on their effective and proper use;
• funds are available at the time that they are needed.
There are further issues regarding financial management of voting operations that extend beyond budget and costing issues.
Authorization of Expenditure
During the election period there are times when a need may arise for staff expenditure and urgent purchases in field locations.
Procedures for expenditure authorization need to account for this through a strictly-controlled system of delegating limited expenditure powers up to the limit of their budget allocations to local offices. Monitoring systems for all expenditure are vital to ensure:
• that budget limits for local administration areas are being adhered to,
• to shift funds between areas where necessary, and to ensure that funds are not being misappropriated.
In well-controlled environments the issue of official credit cards for use by election administrators in purchasing election supplies may be appropriate. It is recommended however that this is only instituted where there are effective controls.
Probity in Purchasing
Generally electoral management bodies have applicable state purchasing procedures that govern the usual purchasing activities.
However, the time frames needed to apply these procedures fully in the use of standard tender processes, and possibly approval of major purchasing requests by infrequently meeting state tender boards-may make these impracticable during the compressed time frames of an election period. It is important, for timely supplies of material and equipment, that accelerated purchasing procedures are available that also maintain accountability and probity in purchasing.
These should still require:
• comparison of potential suppliers product quality, suitability and prices so that value is achieved;
• protection against illegal commissions or collusion;
• controls against fraud by staff.
Staffing
Generally the most significant cost component of voting operations are staffing costs, except in those jurisdictions where voting staff are legally obliged to provide their services free. How well these costs are managed, to a large extent, determines the cost-effectiveness of the whole election process.
The following points can assist in ensuring efficient, cost effective staff:
Payment levels for staff need to be carefully considered. Except in societies where voting officials' duties are regarded as a civic responsibility, payment rates will need to be sufficient to attract and retain staff of acceptable quality. Retention is important as it reduces long terms costs as a body of skilled staff is built.
If payments are regarded as too low, voting officials may not be willing to accept employment offers for future elections, thus leading to loss of experience.
Acceptable payment rates for voting officials could be derived by aligning their payments with those of staff with similar levels of responsibility in public sector agencies. Where different voting station officials have different responsibility levels, e.g., for voting station managers as against a ballot box guard, some pay scale differentiation would be required. However, pay scales should be kept to as few gradations as possible, to enable simplicity and accuracy of processing.
Simplicity can be enhanced by paying voting officials a lump sum payment at the applicable rate for their voting day duties, training sessions and similar standard responsibilities.
Temporary administrative staff assisting in electoral management body offices would generally be more cost-effectively hired and paid on an hourly basis, in line with workload peaks and troughs. (For further discussion of voting operations staffing, see Recruitment and Training of Voting Station Staff)
Staff Payment Systems
There must be a workable system in place to pay all polling officials accurately and promptly. The large numbers of staff employed as voting officials will often put pressure on systems for payment of staff and control of validity of payments. It is good practice to inform staff of payment methods and dates during training to avoid problems at a later stage.
Ensure that payment systems are capable of performing to a standard that allows these commitments to be met as late or missing payments will discourage staff to accept future voting official appointments.
It is useful to pursue opportunities for using existing wage payment systems in large government agencies or private payroll contractor.
For national elections, especially, the large numbers of staff to be paid may make it difficult to receive satisfactory service levels from external contractors (and staff not receiving payments within two weeks of voting day would be an unsatisfactory service level).
The more expensive route of developing an in-house system may need to be considered where there are no reliable existing systems of sufficient capacities available.
Staff Payment Methods
The actual method of payment varies according to the environment. These include:
• payment to staff on voting day itself. This method may require providing additional security problems on a day when election material security is the paramount objective. It also requires strict financial accountability controls on each voting station manager.
• mail payment cheques to officials following receipt and processing of attendance and performance records following voting day. This is a commonly used method. However, payment immediately following conclusion of duties or by personal receipt from the electoral management body may be the only practicable method in some societies.
Where payment is made after voting day, special arrangements need to be made to forward payments to officials in areas where mail services are unreliable or in remote communities. Direct credit to bank accounts or personal receipt from electoral management body offices may be possible.
Where payment is made after voting day, special arrangements need to be made to forward payments to officials in areas where mail services are unreliable or in remote communities. Direct credit to bank accounts or personal receipt from electoral management body offices may be possible.
The distributed nature of staffing in large numbers of widely dispersed voting stations can present opportunities for "ghosting", i.e., the payment of fictitious staff, and making unwarranted additional payments to polling officials.
Systems for staff appointment and payment control have to be sufficiently robust to prevent these misappropriations, yet simple enough to allow expeditious processing of a large number of payments.
Accountability and Audit
As voting operations involve large numbers of staff and valuable, and often highly portable, equipment distributed over many locations, systems for financial accountability need to be very robust.
Particular care needs to be taken in maintaining controls over highly disposable small items, such as mobile phones and personal radios, and in ensuring that only authentic, officially appointed voting staffs are paid. Official financial control procedures should be in place sufficient to ensure that:
• records are maintained of materials and equipment acquisitions and transfers, including assets registers, supply and receipting procedures and records, asset and materials disposal procedures and records;
• auditing systems for and records of voting staff payments are fully maintained;
• staff are made accountable for funds and materials/equipment in their possession;
• controls on finance disbursements and materials/equipment disposition are sufficient to prevent illegal or fraudulent appropriation of election assets.
There is a need to ensure that election officials are made aware of these procedures, as well as any penalties for breaches of financial probity standards during their training.
It is good practice that all financial transactions and acquisitions or transfers of materials and equipment for voting operations are subject to thorough auditing to ensure that accountability processes are enforced. Where the electoral management body does not have its own auditing capability, there will be a need to engage outside auditing specialists.
International Assistance
International financial assistance for voting operations purposes is often provided on the basis of brief assessment missions. A drawback is that they lack the time and opportunity to become fully acquainted with local issues of timing requirements for funds availability.
There is a particular danger that late decisions from examination and approval processes in donor countries will lead to inefficient use of or unused assistance. It is more effective if financial arrangements are better planned in relation to the election timetable and properly targeted, rather than indiscriminately provided or provided too late for effective use for their intended purpose.
An important financial management issue: Accountability for international funding, particularly where it has been provided late and funds remain unspent at the close of the election period. Donor involvement, through involvement in steering groups for funds use, or retention of some powers to approve funds use, may often be appropriate.
