El nombramiento de los directores generales y de los jefes de Unidad de las instituciones electorales (a nivel nacional y provincial) debería efectuarse mediante un proceso abierto y competitivo, basado en méritos y en la experiencia, y no por lealtades partidistas.

El CNE debería garantizar que todos los miembros designados de las Juntas Receptoras del Voto reciban una capacitación apropiada y con la debida antelación. La capacitación debería brindar especial atención a los procedimientos de escrutinio y a las instrucciones para rellenar las actas electorales. Para este propósito, debería establecerse un grupo permanente de capacitadores electorales cualificados.

El número de Juntas Receptoras del Voto debería reducirse, con excepción a aquellas que sirvan a poblaciones aisladas y remotas, lo que implicaría un menor número de miembros de junta. Unos procedimientos simplificados de votación harían posible que estas juntas pudieren procesar una mayor cantidad de electores. A este respecto, el número máximo de electores por Junta Receptora del Voto debería aumentar a 500 de conformidad con el artículo 36 de la Ley Orgánica de Elecciones.

El espacio previsto para la Junta Receptora del Voto debería ser mayor y contar con un perímetro claramente delimitado, a fin de evitar confusiones y aglomeraciones durante la jornada electoral, y para asegurar el carácter secreto del voto.

El CNE debería desarrollar medios más eficientes para pagar a los miembros de las Juntas Receptoras del Voto, concretamente haciendo efectivo el pago en la jornada electoral.

The Electoral Commission should consider using the maximum length of time it has to organise elections. A precise and detailed calendar should be published for the organisation of elections with clear deadlines for the delivery of key components at the time of publication of the writ of notice of poll. The Electoral Commission should also increase its transparency measures and introduce minutes of all meetings of the Commissioners and ensure these are published in a timely manner.

Provisions for special, transfer and proxy voting should be more adequately managed to ensure proper safeguards are in place against malpractices. The Electoral Commission should also be more pro-active in following up any allegations of irregularities in the election process, perhaps by establishing investigation panels for the duration of an election at national and local levels. A provision for domestic observers to sign the result sheets should also be introduced at polling station level.

The IPAC meetings should be developed as a more regular platform of dialogue between the Electoral Commission and the political parties. Full transparency measures need also to be introduced including formal rules for meetings and published minutes.

A review of the information technology department of the Electoral Commission should be undertaken. Adequate training for staff responsible in the field for aggregation of results should be provided and more resources available to enable them to carry out their work.

Provide the CNE with administrative and budgetary independence through the inclusion of a specific section and funds allocation in the national budget. In order to strengthen the CNE’s independence, the election management body should have direct access to an adequate fixed annual allocation of resources ascribed to the National General Budget (Orçamento Geral do Estado OGE).

The CNE Executive Secretariat would benefit from professional secretary services freeing the Executive members from minor but time consuming administrative duties. Moreover, the CNE plenary session also require proper secretarial support in producing session minutes to include all discussions, deliberations and decisions taken on crucial election issues. These documents should be produced and made available to national and international stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe thus enhancing the transparency of the CNE’s decision making process.

Meetings of the Election Commission should be open to political parties and accredited observers. The agendas and minutes of its meetings and decisions should be made available to the general public in a timely manner. The Election Commission should also ensure that clear and updated information is made available to all stakeholders on the counting process. All decisions of the Election Commission should also be clearly explained.

The Election Commission should ensure necessary resources are allocated to departments responsible for implementing the Code of Conduct. Adequate deadlines and guidelines for processing complaints should be reinforced and clear steps published for the Code’s enforcement.

The role of party agents and volunteers whilst providing an important safeguard should be reduced outside of polling stations. The tradition of assisting voters identify their details on the voter register by party volunteers should be prohibited. Election officials should be posted to assist in this capacity.

The EU EOM recommends that the CNE give greater priority to the sanctioning instruments for electoral crimes and faults as foreseen in the Basic Law of Suffrage and Political Participation and reflected in the regulations that it has adopted. Inasmuch as possible, the goal is to dissuade and punish the perpetration of such actions, before the end of the election campaign. The EU EOM further proposes that the participation of public servants in election campaign activities, be it voluntary or induced, be investigated and sanctioned, in accordance with Venezuelan law and international election practices. The exercise of the sanctioning powers, which the CNE is endowed with by law, would benefit the credibility and legitimacy of the Electoral Power, and of election processes per se.

Furthermore, the EU EOM recommends that at the designated closing time for voting centres on Election Day, only those voters that are queuing to vote at that moment be allowed to vote, and not those that join the queue afterwards. Such a measure would require amending existing legislation, and would put Venezuela in line with common practice in neighbouring countries and internationally; putting an end to the accusations of interested extended voting hours, which have been repeatedly heard in recent election processes, including the 2006 Presidential Elections, although in this case they were more subdued than in the past.

Better training for Polling Station members, voting machine operators, and support technicians, together with a more precise definition of the procedures for voting centres and Polling Stations could avoid uncertainties or contradictions in the performance of their tasks. This improvement would directly reduce the reaction time in case of contingencies, and bring about greater efficiency in the processes carried out in Polling Stations, such as the setup, polling, transmission, or audit of closing.

On the basis of the positive results of the audits performed during the 2006 Presidential Elections, and taking advantage of the degree of expertise acquired by the technical experts of the different candidates and national election observation groups, it would be a positive step for the CNE to systematically maintain programmes for quality management with external technical experts, both for the REP as well as for the electronic voting system. This would increase the level of trust of the political parties, the media, and the public in general in the system.

The SCER should adopt by-laws or guidelines that specify the role and responsibilities of all areas of the election administration; in particular, clear terms of reference are required to outline the work of the branches of the SCER Secretariat and the Election Security Committees (ESCs).

The SCER should take genuine steps to address and prevent politically partisan behaviour within its structures, including a Code of Conduct for Commissioners and the members of staff of its Secretariat. In particular, SCER commissioners should specifically refrain from making public statements in support of or against candidates.

The ECZ must become an independent, autonomous body in terms of the appointment of its members, its funding and performance. Instead of the President proposing members for their ratification by Parliament, at least two-thirds of the National Assembly could put forward candidates for confirmation by the President. The ECZ’s funding should be guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance as per budget allocations.

In order to ensure fast, efficient and accountable election preparations, a detailed election calendar, incorporating all legal and sub-legal timelines, should be produced for future elections. Such a calendar would regulate dates and time periods for all aspects of the voter registration process, candidate nominations, election campaigning, the accreditation of monitors, observers and the media, as well as a timetable for the filing and resolution of petitions

Appropriate departments should be established within the ECZ’s Directorate, including one specifically for the training of electoral staff. Each department should have sufficient decision-making capacities to reduce the burden of the director and his/her deputies, and each electoral officer should work on the basis of clear terms of reference.

The training of electoral staff is in need of substantial improvement. Although there was a high level of competency among the trainers, observers reported that training facilities, equipment and the amount of training provided were unsatisfactory. Larger rooms, smaller groups, longer training periods, practice exercises, polling day simulations and follow-up training modules should all be introduced. In addition, step-by-step election manuals for presiding and returning officers, covering polling, counting, the packing and intake of materials and the tabulation and aggregation of results, should be provided.

The filling in of the forms took place in often inadequate lighting and was conducted by election staff who had already worked an almost 24-hour day. Adequate lighting should be provided in polling stations and consideration could be given to the introduction of a count officer who begins his/her duties at the end of polling, thus relieving the burden of the presiding officer.