Essential - Ensure that all procedural safeguards against electoral fraud are in place such as use of voter register, use of a supplementary voter register, systematic checking of voters’ fingers for ink, and reconciliation of the ballots.
Addressed to - CNE.
Possible Improvements Suggested:
- Elaborate procedures for pre and post election activities for GMEs and CPEs.
- Revise the election day procedures manual with more detail and ensure that Polling station staff understand the reasons for the different checks.
- Revise the protocols to include spaces to enter number of ballot box seals, number of ballots received and a supplementary voter register.
- Shorten the cascade for training of polling station staff to ensure that trainers fully understand the information.
- If electronic means such as PDAs or swipe machines are used instead of a voter list, these should be available at each polling station and linked to the central database to ensure voters only vote once. They should calculate the number of people who have voted at that polling station to facilitate the reconciliation process after closing.
Timeline - Procedures should all be determined at least three months prior to next elections.