This question is posted by ACE on behalf of an ACE user.

Question:

Burma is slated to hold parliamentary elections in November 2015. The Myanmar Police Force (MPF) is seeking to recruit more than 20,000 special police officers to bolster security at polling stations nationwide during the general election. 

These "special police officers" will be citizens employed temporarily as police officers. Selection criteria remain unclear, though it seems any man in general health from the age of 18-60 is eligible. The special police will reportedly provide security around polling stations and wear police uniforms.  

What other countries, if any, have employed this approach for hiring and using citizens as police around elections? 

For these countries, what have been the roles and responsibilities of these "special" or auxiliary police? 

For related cases, are there any best practices for employing citizens as special police? 

For related cases what, if anything, went wrong and should be avoided?

Note: An update from The Irrawaddy indicates that over 40,000 special police have been hired for Burma’s 2015 elections.

Summary of Replies:

The Practitioners’ Network (PN) addressed some general positives and negatives of using special police forces at polling stations on Election Day. The benefits of recruiting such police officers depend on the nation’s political context, the EMB in question, and the integrity of the police department.

Potential benefits of using citizen police on Election Day include:

• May be trusted as impartial whereas ordinary police may be distrusted.
• May be needed in order to augment the number of regular police officers.
• Provide employment.
• Engage citizens in politics and democracy. 

Some concerns raised by the PN are:

• Whether the role officers play in and around the polling station are defined by law or agreed to by key stakeholders and whether they are limited to polling stations themselves.
• Whether the special police are allowed to have weapons and if so where they are positioned.
• Early voting provisions for special police.
• Lower accountability due to the temporary nature of the job.

Some examples discussed by the PN include Nicaragua, which used citizen police identified by a white shirt and cap in 2011 elections. This practitioner felt that the citizen police keeping control inside the polling station and the regular police and military guarding the outside of the polling stations showed citizen ownership of the election. 

Botswana hires special police on a temporary basis, not only on Election Day. In Morocco, polling centers were secured by auxiliary forces, police, and gendarmes. 1,400 auxiliary staff were used for security. 

Contributing Members:

• Atem Oben Henry Ekpeni
• Forhad Ahmmed Khan
• Víctor Hugo Ajila Mora
• Mustafa Safwat Sidqi
• Gakenosi Motshwarakgole
• Evelyne Ogandaga

Au Maroc lors des élections communales et régionales du 04 septembre, les centres de vote ont été sécurisés par des équipes composées par des forces auxiliaires, des forces de police et des gendarmes. Leur mission était essentiellement de sécuriser les citoyens, les bulletins de vote, les urnes et procès-verbaux. A cet effet, 1400 agents auxiliaires ont été mis à profit.  

A titre de conseil, le système que vous voulez mettre en place peut se faire à condition de prévoir un véritable dispositif de formation au processus électoral et surtout à la gestion d'un centre et bureau de vote, aux textes régissant les élections dans votre pays pour une gestion efficace des centres de vote.

En Nouvelle Calédonie par exemple, dans la ville de Nouméa, des auxiliaires de proximité au sein de la police municipale sont déployés dans la ville pour assurer la surveillance et la sécurité. ce sont des agents provinciaux recrutés à partir de 18 ans placés sous l'autorité de la police municipale. Vous pouvez vous inspirer de ce système pour mettre votre dispositif en place.

Special Police can be a good idea due to the following reasons

- to add up to the number of the current day to day Police officers. The numbers of the day to day police officers may not be enough for the elections.

- to provide employment to those unemployed

- It can also be of benefit to the country to spend less money since it would only be for a shorter time instead of permanent staff who may require retirement benefits

- This can be done also if those engaged are so patriotic to their country and are so much concerned about the democracy of their country

- May use private companies for accountability. If they do mischievous deeds, they will loose their jobs from the company, the company may also loose its license.

Botswana has special police, that is those hired on temporary basis at police stations. They are not hired only for elections. As for these ones, they can be used on elections as they may loose their temporary jobs at their respective police stations if they so misbehave during election day

There are however risks that may emanate which include:

- due to accountability, these special police may ruin the elections. If you are to involve the day to day police officers, chances of mischievous deeds are low since they will fear to loose their day to day job, but as for the special police they have nothing to loose after election day.

- some may come in sent by political parties they are affiliated to just to cause harvoc if their parties loose.

If they are involved, they must not be given work at critical points, like handling or being near the ballot papers.

It might be a good idea if those temporary police would be employed by the EMBs to secure their loyalty to the elections administration and impartiality toward the elections, for the ordinary police may act on behalf of the Government’s candidates.

As the EMBs employed elections days staff it could add those people to its temporary elections employees as security staff with special uniform and educate training.  

Buenos días:

El éxito de los policías temporales para la jornada electoral consiste en establecer roles de forma clara y concreta; definir a quien obedecen, y cuáles son las funciones que van a desempeñar antes, durante y después del día de elecciones.

En un proceso electoral en Nicaragua, en el 2011, pude observar que participaron policías civiles todos identificados con una camiseta blanca y gorra, que se encargaban de cuidar el orden dentro de los recintos electorales y mesas de votación. Estaban motivados de su rol porque eran los guardianes de la elección, por eso lo asumían su papel como una participación cívica a pesar del simbólico pago de dinero que recibían por un día de trabajo.

En cambio, las fuerzas armadas, policías y militares custodiaban los exteriores de los recintos electorales para mantener el orden.

La presencia de una policía civil es importante porque representa que los ciudadanos son custodios y dueños de la elección. Que las "armas" no tienen ese rol.

Para esto se necesita una buena campaña de información a la ciudadanía y también motivación y capacitación a quienes va a ser designados policías civiles.

Saludos

Everything is depend on EMB. Because, security of polling station could not ensure by only police force. On the other hand, security of polling station is not only the prerequisite for holding an election free, fair and credible manner. If EMB and other stakeholder desire for a good election, all steps must be succeeded. 

The idea of recruiting temporal police officers for the purpose of security on E-Day is welcome and depends on the nation's political environment and the integrity of the police department. This responsibility is best handled by the police and productive if the EMB and the other key stakeholder welcome it. However, in my experience these concerns have always come to light.

1. The role such officers play in and around the polling station. Are these roles defined by law or agreed by the key stakeholders? Do these roles limit to polling stations or extended to securing the transportation of results and counting centers, etc?

2. Are they allowed to have weapons? If yes, where are they to position themselves? Inside the poling station, outside or in a visible far end awaiting call for security concerns by the presiding officer. In some stable political environment their presence with weapons at the polling station scare mostly women voters. 

3. Is there any provision for early voting for these security officers? Or are they suppose to vote where they will be assigned? This may be very controversial if they are to be deployed from one region to the other.

These are some of the concerns stakeholders have raised in my experience. Again elections draw its mandate from legal instruments and as such all associated operations should be legally binding or agreed by the major players.