The method of selecting and appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission should be amended to guarantee an independent election administration. The Election Commission should be totally responsible for the compilation of the voting register and the delimitation of constituencies.

The training of ECP Staff organised by the UNDP was seriously hampered by the late production of the training manual and the low participation rate at training sessions as a consequence of the poor information given to the trainees by Assistant Election Commissioners at local level. Additionally the Presiding Officers manual should be produced in the appropriate language of the province.

The ECP’s interaction with the political parties on a structural and regular basis was very limited. The ECP’s inadequate interaction with political parties contributed to their
mistrust and misunderstanding of the various electoral procedures. In order to rectify this in the future, the ECP should organise a Political Party Consultative Forum that
meets on a structured basis. By establishing frequent contact, understanding of the electoral process will be enhanced and misunderstandings and mistrust between the ECP and parties can be avoided. It is important that this forum not only meets in Islamabad, but meets in all provinces because many parties are regionally based.

The NEC needs to improve its communication with the political parties and the general public, in order to enhance transparency and to diffuse information to the electorate faster and more effectively. It could do this by appointing a Public Relations Officer, who is easily accessible. On the district level, the DECs need to improve the transfer of information to the political parties. This could be done by replicating at the district level the National Consultative Committee, a body where party representatives liaise with the election administration. The international community and the EU in particular should assist by helping to rebuild the communication infrastructure in Sierra Leone, including the establishment of a telephone and electricity network.

District Electoral Officers and District Returning Officers need to be appointed earlier and should receive more means and training to achieve an effective electoral organisation at the district level.

The procedures for special voting and the transfer of vote should be better communicated and handled, as to avoid confusion and thus suspicion of manipulation, and assure a uniformity of polling procedures.

The development of a complete election system must start now, which includes the establishment of the appropriate election management bodies. Whereas the outgoing
Independent Election Commission prepared a large cadre of election officials and staff spread throughout the country, tested in three national polls and established sound
independent and sound election practices, these should be preserved and built on for the future. We recommend that an Independent Electoral Body comparable to the IEC be
directly appointed by the President of the East Timor Supreme Court and accountable to the Court.

The Election Commission should achieve a higher level of transparency, by redefining itself as a deliberative body holding formal sessions where decisions are taken under appropriate rules and regulations. Moreover EC decisions should be duly publicised in a timely manner.

To consider a new formula for the appointment of members of GECOM to ensure that party political considerations can not influence policy.

To review the system of recruitment, training and appointment of temporary staff such that the system is simplified and appointment precedes training.

To make such changes to the computer systems as required following the report of the external auditors.

Voter secrecy must be protected. Senior Presiding Officers must be given clear instructions as to how to arrange their polling booths. These should be designed and laid out properly to guarantee the secrecy of voting.

In the CSE there have been numerous cases of relatively longserving staff being replaced by less qualified political appointees. Even if the authoritative decision-making organs remain controlled by the parties, it would be very important to create a permanent professional staff whose employment is not subject to shifting partisan quotas.

There are several problems with election finance in Nicaragua. One is that, in general, elections are an operation too expansive both for international and in local standards. (…) On the other hand, the electoral authorities have tended to spend money on processes that have made the system unnecessarily complicated. The combination of significant foreign aid flows and incompetent electoral administration has created inefficiencies that should be avoided. The empirical evidence of the 2001 elections points to a conclusion that in many aspects the system might have worked better if less money had been allocated to complicated technical innovations.

Legal provisions exist for temporary residents’ polling stations (mesas de transeuntos), but these have not been set up for the general elections in April and June 2001. This has had the effect of excluding a considerable part of Peru’s significant number of migrants from voting, or subjecting them to prohibitive expenditures or fines. It is therefore strongly recommended to grant temporary residents their voting rights and reduce the arbitrarily long time limit for applications for the respective permits (currently 90 days prior to the election date) to a time frame more in accordance with the technical administrative conditions granted by computer-age developments.

A simplification of voter registration procedures could be recommended. The secrecy of the vote could and should also be increased by a reform of the voting procedures. The voting process could be accelerated by distributing all ballot papers to the voter at the same time. Transparency of the process could be easily increased. A reasonable timing is needed to announce the election date in order to allow a better planning of the activities (the delay in the announcement of election date made it difficult to plan and implement some of the programmes with time-effectiveness). The law should also provide for free access to the public media for the contesting Parties and Candidates, and for an observation free of charge. In addition, party funding need to be fully and efficiently regulated. Finally, attention should be paid to the setting up of an effective electoral disputes resolution system.

In any case, two activities should clearly be dealt with separately : direct public awareness on election and support to NGOs to conduct civic education activities. The ECZ should not be involved in the second one.

We would also recommend the ECZ to consider creating a mechanism aimed at finding solutions to issues related to the conduct of the electoral process in cooperation with political parties and civil society organisations.

Government resources should not be used for partisan electioneering and should be subject to monitoring by the Election Commission.

Training of presiding officers for the completion of forms and counting was seen as requiring substantial improvement. It was also noted that many procedures were not properly followed. For instance, voters’ fingers were not checked for ink; voters without certificate of registration were denied the right to vote, contrary to the regulations; the secrecy of the vote was not ensured because of inadequate placing of the polling booth; campaign material was visible in the vicinity of polling stations; family voting and intimidation were observed in or around polling stations; people queuing at 4pm were not allowed to vote; results were not displayed to the public; etc. While these aspects are marginal on the whole, they could be improved for future elections

The body managing election arrangements must be impartial, independent and above partisan interests. A new organisation, therefore, is needed. It should be appointed in a consultative and open manner which ensures the confidence of all parties, and of the public at large; it should be insulated from pressure by the Executive in carrying out its work; and it should have sufficient human and financial resources to operate effectively. These arrangements should be protected by law and integrated into a streamlined legal framework for elections