Essential - Voter education campaign should be conducted in indigenous languages, and adapt to local necessities in order to reach rural and minority population.
Addressed to - NEC.
Possible Improvements Suggested - For this purpose increased cooperation with institutions such as CODENPE and NGOs would be recommendable.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer finance to NGOs.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Desirable - More efforts should be made to address indigenous and afro- Ecuadorian’s rights and issues as campaign topics.
Addressed to - Political Subjects.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Desirable - More efforts should be made to address women’s rights and issues as campaign topics.
Addressed to - Political Subjects.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Desirable - Voter education campaigns targeting especially rural and illiterate women should be conducted.
Addressed to - NEC.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer finance to NGOs .
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Desirable - Political parties should develop their internal capacity and structures to stimulate the establishment of their political platforms.
Addressed to - Political Subjects.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Essential - The NEC should ensure from the beginning of the campaign sufficient use of free airtime among candidates to allow them to accurately communicate their political program to the electorate. The innovation of the new franjas electorales could be enlarged to cover all the campaign period.
Addressed to - NEC.
Possible Improvements Suggested - NEC regulations.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Essential - A clear distinction must be drawn between the state and its activities on one hand, and the election contenders and their campaign on the other. This distinction must be fully observed in the conduct of the campaign in order to avoid the violation of equality of opportunities among the contestants.
Addressed to - Incumbent Candidates.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Essential - In line with the provisions of the 2008 Constitution (article 115) and the 2009 Election Law (article 207) that forbid state institutions to advertise for electoral campaigning, it would be advisable that the Election Law would define exactly what is considered campaigning during an electoral period.
Addressed to - National Assembly; NEC; EDT.
Possible Improvements Suggested - Amendment to the Election Law.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - At least two years before the next electoral cycle.

Desirable - Voter education should include information about the complex election procedures and the weight of their vote in terms of seat allocation.
Addressed to - NEC.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer public information and civic education expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities or support local NGOs involved in these activities.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Essential - Voter education campaign should be implemented sooner. An increased degree of outsourcing or network with public institutions and civil society organizations could enhance the process.
Addressed to - NEC.
Possible Improvements Suggested - According to international standards, voter education campaigns are necessary to ensure the effective exercise by an informed community on their electoral rights. A best international practice is to undertake widespread voter education campaigns with the support of government and civil society.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer public information and civic education expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities, or support local NGOs involved in these activities.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Essential - Establishment of a detailed calendar for the verification/update/information period of the voter register by electors well in advance of Election Day. This would allow voters to make addition and changes after the official call for the elections. After the verification period the new NEC should undertake the necessary corrections and display the voter register again at cantonal or parish levels at least 15 days prior to Election Day.
Addressed to - National Assembly; NEC.
Possible Improvements Suggested - Amendment to the Election Law.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - At least two years before the next electoral cycle.

Essential - Specific training for polling centres Coordinators on E-day procedures and transmission of results to the next level should be foreseen for the next electoral cycle.
Addressed to - NEC.
Possible Improvements Suggested - Improve the selection of polling centre Coordinators based on their qualification.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Desirable - Implementation of effective procedures to communicate appointments to the polling station committee members.
Addressed to - NEC.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Desireable - NEC should improve the level of institutional communication with the general public, media and political organisations in order to avoid controversies and miss information and strengthen public trust on a long term basis.
Addressed to - NEC.
Possible Improvements Suggested - NEC could have an adequate professional press room as well as more manpower in order to enhance transparency through a more proactive dialogue with electoral stakeholders.
- A closer synergy between the departments of Communication, Electoral Promotion and Civic Education could optimize information strategy.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - In time for next electoral cycle.

Essential - Clear procedures for nomination and appointment of electoral delegates, provincial board members based on merit and experience.
Addressed to - NEC
Possible Improvements Suggested - Elaboration of Regulations to the Electoral Law establishing qualifications and procedures for electoral delegates and provincial board members and applying the Law on Public Service for the rest of election staff.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - Following the appointment of the new NEC.

Essential - The law should provide for independent candidates to run for elections.
Addressed to - National Assembly.
Possible Improvements Suggested - Amendment to the Election Law.
EC Support/Projects - EC should be ready to offer legal and electoral expertise if requested by Ecuadorian authorities.
Timeline - At least two years before the next electoral cycle.

Fraud detection measures should include the following considerations:
- Reconciliation forms and the lists of voters are good instruments for the mitigation of fraud as they can be used to detect excess numbers of ballots. Although both were available in the 2009 elections, there was no incentive for their appropriate completion as they were not subsequently used to cross-check the number of voters with the number of ballots cast. Cross-checking of reconciliation forms and lists of voters should be mandatory for future elections.
- Clear and binding procedures for auditing should be in place at the beginning of the electoral process, to avoid last-minute improvisations that are not generally understood by the public. Auditing is just a more precise and targeted way of counting and as such should be in the public domain and conducted in a manner which is transparent and understandable for voters.
- The final number and locations of polling centres and polling stations should be publicised at the beginning of the electoral process. Any kind of changes in numbers or locations should be fully justified and publicised immediately. This would safeguard against the risk of fraud though ballot stuffing, using electoral materials earmarked for polling stations which never opened to establish ghost polling stations.
- Clear and binding procedures should be in place to ensure efficient tracking of all unused electoral material. In order to prevent excess electoral materials being distributed to the provinces and used to commit fraud, only officially listed polling stations should receive electoral material.

Counting should begin immediately after the close of polls, even if more than one election has taken place. This would reduce the scope for fraud.

The capacity of domestic observer organisations should be enhanced to allow them to make a full assessment of the electoral cycle and to issue public recommendations in order to improve the quality and integrity of the electoral process. Technical assistance bodies which advise the election administration and other bodies to be assessed by election observation groups should be distinct from those which assist the observation groups.

A consultation process with women active in politics should assess their security and other needs during the course of registering and campaigning. This could be coordinated between Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and women’s nongovernmental organisations. The usefulness of the Ministry of Interior’s bodyguard programme for women candidates should be assessed. Once the programme has been either confirmed or adapted for the 2009 elections, consistent measures should be taken throughout the country to ensure that all eligible candidates are able to benefit.

All possible measures should be implemented to eliminate the practices of proxy registration and proxy voting. Such measures would include appropriate emphasis in training and support for voter registration and polling station staff, as well as public outreach programmes aimed at both men and women. Consultations should enable the identification of measures which would assist women to register and vote in person. These could include consideration of the best location for registration and voting sites and the provision of adequate numbers of female voter registration and polling staff. This endeavour should be carried out by the Gender Unit at the IEC, in conjunction with appropriate organisations.

Technical assistance should be offered to strengthen the professional skills of journalists, editors and managers from State and non-State media, especially in relation to ensuring accurate and balanced coverage of elections. In particular, efforts should be made to boost the professional standards of members of the regional media.

The Electoral Media Commission should be granted more authority, including effective sanctioning powers for media outlets which do not comply with its decisions. The authorities should consider converting the Electoral Media Commission into a permanent body (as envisaged in Article 43 of the new Media Law) with a more general remit, but including specific duties and powers during electoral periods.

The ECC would benefit from independence in terms of its administration, funding, and organisational set-up. A clear separation should be maintained between funds for electoral assistance programmes and ECC funds. If a programme such as UNDP-ELECT remains in place, two separate committees should set up to provide dedicated technical assistance to the IEC and the ECC. These provisions existed in theory but were not applied by ELECT. Decisions taken regarding the ECC should not involve either the IEC or ELECT staff who are involved in supporting the IEC.

Training of ECC staff in fraud investigation should be conducted prior to the 2010 elections, with guidelines on how to establish responsibility for fraudulent actions.