Capable and professional election administrators are essential for organising elections, and without the right skills in place election processes can be undermined. To achieve effective, sustainable electoral administrations, the development of the capacity of their staff needs to be prioritised.

Until the turn of the millennium, there were few formal opportunities available for comprehensive professional development in election administration. In response to this, the International IDEA, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and the UN Election Assistance Division (EAD) developed the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections Project – more commonly known as BRIDGE.

BRIDGE is the most comprehensive professional development course available in election administration. The original aims of the project were to strengthen election administrations’ capacity, to enhance professionalism and to build networks within election administrations. Since then, the scope of the training has been advanced to improve the skills, knowledge, and confidence not only of election professionals but also of key stakeholders in the electoral process, such as members of the media, political parties, CSOs and electoral observers.

The BRIDGE Project builds an understanding of the standards and principles which underpin good electoral administration and has been developed by electoral administrators themselves, people with wide experience of elections in many different countries and contexts.

The aims of the BRIDGE Project are to:

• Strengthen electoral administrators’ capacity to conduct their work in an effective and efficient manner
• Enhance electoral administrators’ professionalism
• Build teams and networks that strengthen electoral administrators’ capacity to conduct their work in an effective manner
• Build an understanding of the standards and principles, which underpin good electoral administration

The BRIDGE Methodology

• is not prescriptive. It encourages participants to develop creative and appropriate solutions to challenges
• is flexible. The course has been developed in modules, and can be taught so as to cover all aspects of electoral administration, or to focus on specific elements of the electoral process
• is adaptable to regional and cultural contexts. It can be modified to meet the specific needs of clients
• is activity-based. There is very little traditional lecturing in the course. Participants are called on to play an active role in the course, the aim being to draw on their own skills and experiences
• is practically focused. The course seeks to develop skills in areas which are important in an electoral administrators day-to-day work. It emphasises an understanding of the relationships between different tasks as a vital tool for meeting tight deadlines effectively
• emphasises teamwork and network building. Participants get to know each other, and have the chance to build networks either within their own organisation, or between different organisations, countries and cultures
• is global in scope and seeks to use comparative examples to illustrate options and
  best practice
• uses content developed by electoral experts from around the world 

Sources for BRIDGE Material

BRIDGE draws on international standards and principles, a vast compendium of best practice produced by experts in ACE, publications from International IDEA, IFES and UNDP, academic articles, election reports, sample electoral legislation, case studies and activities developed by a range of practitioners from all regions based on experience

Overview of BRIDGE Version 2 Modules

BRIDGE Version 2 comprises 23 modules. These include two Foundation modules. These are an introduction to the standards and principles that underpin and the skills needed for effective electoral administration. Version 2 also contains three thematic groups: Electoral Architecture (five modules), Working With Stakeholders (nine modules) and Electoral Operations (seven modules).

For more information please visit the BRIDGE website.