GoSS should seek the advice of regional bodies such as the Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA) and international think tanks such as International IDEA in designing the EMB and determining what elements on electoral management design should be included in the draft Electoral Law to be submitted to the new Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA), and which electoral system should be chosen that best assists the development of a pluralistic polity. With regards to electoral management design, at the very least, the draft law should consider the following elements:
a. Whether the EMB should be separate from and institutionally outside any other Government Ministry/agency (as is the case in the majority of African countries);
b. Whether the EMB should consist of a Board of Commissioners and a full!time Secretariat;
c. In the event that a Board of Commissioners are appointed, should they be proposed by Parliamentary Committee, or by Presidential Decree, or for approval by Parliament upon the proposal of the President, or proposed by political groups represented in the SSLA, etc.;
d. The minimum criteria for consideration as an Electoral Commissioner;
e. Whether electoral Commissioners, where created, should be full!time or part!time officials;
f. Whether electoral Commissioners, where created, should enjoy immunity from prosecution in the execution of their tasks;
g. The powers of Commissioners, where created, vis-à-vis Secretariat senior staff;
h. How the head of the Secretariat would be appointed;
i. Whether the head of the Secretariat would be an ex-officio or voting member of the Commissioners;
j. Whether the EMB has a regional structure and full-time regional officials;
k. The extent of the EMB’s power, including, for example, whether it has authority to organise and manage all elections, including, for example, local authority elections, or whether it has power in the area of campaign finance regulation, media campaign regulation, etc.;
l. The exact role of the EMB versus the civil registry and national statistics authority with regards to voter registration;
m. How the work of the EMB is funded, and whether the EMB has the right, by law, to propose its annual budget directly to Parliament.
Due to the experience gained in implementing the Referendum in an efficient manner, and as a bridge between the SSRC/SSRB and the future electoral management body in Southern Sudan, it may be wise for the SSLA to consider enacting legislation to extend the mandate of a slimmed!down SSRB as an interim body until such time as a new, permanent electoral management body is created and in a position to formally take responsibility for its powers as codified in law. The function of the interim body would be to offer a) advice to legal drafters on the operational consequences of proposed elements of the future electoral law, b) to archive all operational planning documents, equipment, polling materials, etc., of both the SSRC and the SSRB to be used as resource materials for the future electoral management body, and c) to train a core group of electoral administrators (current SSRB staff) on electoral administration, electoral justice and democratic governance and the place of elections and electoral management bodies in same.